diff --git a/bats/tests/helpers/load.bash b/bats/tests/helpers/load.bash
index 53b3d7ef35d..74749f83c1e 100644
--- a/bats/tests/helpers/load.bash
+++ b/bats/tests/helpers/load.bash
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ setup_file() {
     if semver_gt 5.0.0 "$(semver "$BASH_VERSION")"; then
         fail "Bash 5.0.0 is required; you have $BASH_VERSION"
     fi
+    # We currently use a submodule that provides BATS 1.10; we do not test
+    # against any other copy of BATS (and therefore only support the version in
+    # that submodule).
+    bats_require_minimum_version 1.10.0
     # Ideally this should be printed only when using the tap formatter,
     # but I don't see a way to check for this.
     echo "# ===== $RD_TEST_FILENAME =====" >&3
diff --git a/bats/tests/helpers/vm.bash b/bats/tests/helpers/vm.bash
index 7449c24c7fb..6b50b4c1367 100644
--- a/bats/tests/helpers/vm.bash
+++ b/bats/tests/helpers/vm.bash
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-local_setup_file() {
-    bats_require_minimum_version 1.5.0
-}
-
 wait_for_shell() {
     if is_windows; then
         try --max 48 --delay 5 rdctl shell true
diff --git a/bats/tests/k8s/traefik.bats b/bats/tests/k8s/traefik.bats
index efcc948a973..313ffc54a62 100644
--- a/bats/tests/k8s/traefik.bats
+++ b/bats/tests/k8s/traefik.bats
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ local_setup() {
         skip "Test does not yet work from inside a WSL distro when using networking tunnel, since it requires WSL integration"
     fi
     needs_port 80
-    bats_require_minimum_version 1.5.0
 }
 
 assert_traefik_pods_are_down() {
diff --git a/bats/tests/k8s/wasm.bats b/bats/tests/k8s/wasm.bats
index 66a5732b86b..40e65a4fe7e 100644
--- a/bats/tests/k8s/wasm.bats
+++ b/bats/tests/k8s/wasm.bats
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ assert_traefik_crd_established() {
 # Get Kubernetes RuntimeClasses; sets $output to the JSON list.
 get_runtime_classes() {
     # kubectl may emit warnings here; ensure that we don't fall over.
-    bats_require_minimum_version 1.5.0
     run --separate-stderr kubectl get RuntimeClasses --output json
     assert_success || return