diff --git a/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/max_versions.env b/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/max_versions.env
index 8bd1351e048a..597499978985 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/max_versions.env
+++ b/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/max_versions.env
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ kind_version='v0.24.0'
 helm_version='v3.14.4'
 argocd_version='v2.8.4'
 istio_version='1.22.0'
+k8sgateway_api_version='v1.2.0'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/min_versions.env b/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/min_versions.env
index 846ee9edf90f..c4a2a492d6bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/min_versions.env
+++ b/.github/workflows/.env/nightly-tests/min_versions.env
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ kind_version='v0.20.0'
 helm_version='v3.12.2'
 argocd_version='v2.8.4'
 istio_version='1.16.7'
+k8sgateway_api_version='v1.0.0'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/composite-actions/setup-kind-cluster/action.yaml b/.github/workflows/composite-actions/setup-kind-cluster/action.yaml
index 74d73772bb61..4cb1df8826df 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/composite-actions/setup-kind-cluster/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/composite-actions/setup-kind-cluster/action.yaml
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ inputs:
   istio-version:
     required: true
     description: The version of Istio
+  k8sgateway-api-version:
+    required: false
+    default: "" # If this is undefined the setup-kind script has its own default value
+    description: The version of the gateway-api to use
 
 runs:
   using: "composite"
@@ -43,4 +47,5 @@ runs:
         CLUSTER_NAME: ${{ inputs.cluster-name }}
         CLUSTER_NODE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.kind-node-version }}
         ISTIO_VERSION: ${{ inputs.istio-version }}
+        CONFORMANCE_VERSION: ${{ inputs.k8sgateway-api-version }}
       run: ./ci/kind/setup-kind.sh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly-tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/nightly-tests.yaml
index 4400fd448c5f..5de8a6418f09 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly-tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly-tests.yaml
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ jobs:
           kubectl-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.kubectl_version }}
           helm-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.helm_version }}
           istio-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.istio_version }}
+          k8sgateway-api-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.k8sgateway_api_version }}
       # Run the tests
       - id: run-tests
         name: Run Kubernetes e2e Tests
@@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ jobs:
           kubectl-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.kubectl_version }}
           helm-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.helm_version }}
           istio-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.istio_version }}
+          k8sgateway-api-version: ${{ steps.dotenv.outputs.k8sgateway_api_version }}
       # Run the tests
       - id: run-tests
         name: Run Kubernetes e2e Tests
diff --git a/changelog/v1.18.0-rc2/conformance-version-in-env.yaml b/changelog/v1.18.0-rc2/conformance-version-in-env.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..469d43a56643
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/v1.18.0-rc2/conformance-version-in-env.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+changelog:
+  - type: NON_USER_FACING
+    issueLink: https://github.com/solo-io/gloo/issues/10364
+    resolvesIssue: false
+    description: >-
+      When setting up our kind cluster for tests, we need to ensure that the correct version of the k8sgateway APIs are loaded, as
+      we support multiple versions of Istio that use different versions of the rapidly changing k8sgateway APIs.
+      To support this, `k8sgateway_api_version` has been added to the the min/max environment variables for the test matrix
+      and the value are set as the `CONFORMANCE_VERSION` environment variable when running the setup-kind script.