diff --git a/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieCatalog.java b/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieCatalog.java
index a242bfeb67fa..2ca1660cf084 100644
--- a/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieCatalog.java
+++ b/nessie/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/NessieCatalog.java
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import org.apache.iceberg.CatalogProperties;
 import org.apache.iceberg.CatalogUtil;
 import org.apache.iceberg.TableOperations;
@@ -103,9 +105,12 @@ public void initialize(String name, Map<String, String> options) {
             .fallbackTo(x -> options.get(removePrefix.apply(x)));
     NessieClientBuilder nessieClientBuilder =
         NessieClientBuilder.createClientBuilderFromSystemSettings(configSource);
-    // default version is set to v1.
-    final String apiVersion =
-        options.getOrDefault(removePrefix.apply(NessieUtil.CLIENT_API_VERSION), "1");
+    // default version is inferred by uri.
+    String apiVersion = options.get(removePrefix.apply(NessieUtil.CLIENT_API_VERSION));
+    if (apiVersion == null) {
+      apiVersion = inferVersionFromURI(options.get(CatalogProperties.URI));
+    }
+
     NessieApiV1 api;
     switch (apiVersion) {
       case "1":
@@ -128,6 +133,26 @@ public void initialize(String name, Map<String, String> options) {
         catalogOptions);
   }
 
+  private static String inferVersionFromURI(String uri) {
+    if (uri == null) {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("URI is not specified in the catalog properties");
+    }
+
+    // match for uri ending with /v1, /v2 etc
+    Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("/v(\\d+)$");
+    Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(uri);
+    // Extract and print the version number
+    if (matcher.find()) {
+      return matcher.group(1);
+    } else {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+          String.format(
+              "URI doesn't end with the version: %s. "
+                  + "Please configure `client-api-version` in the catalog properties explicitly.",
+              uri));
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * An alternative way to initialize the catalog using a pre-configured {@link NessieIcebergClient}
    * and {@link FileIO} instance.
diff --git a/nessie/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/TestNessieCatalog.java b/nessie/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/TestNessieCatalog.java
index dfa8f0a62ab4..fa381194ba0c 100644
--- a/nessie/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/TestNessieCatalog.java
+++ b/nessie/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/nessie/TestNessieCatalog.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 import org.projectnessie.client.api.NessieApiV1;
-import org.projectnessie.client.ext.NessieApiVersion;
 import org.projectnessie.client.ext.NessieApiVersions;
 import org.projectnessie.client.ext.NessieClientFactory;
 import org.projectnessie.client.ext.NessieClientUri;
@@ -65,7 +64,6 @@ public class TestNessieCatalog extends CatalogTests<NessieCatalog> {
 
   private NessieCatalog catalog;
   private NessieApiV1 api;
-  private NessieApiVersion apiVersion;
   private Configuration hadoopConfig;
   private String initialHashOfDefaultBranch;
   private String uri;
@@ -74,7 +72,6 @@ public class TestNessieCatalog extends CatalogTests<NessieCatalog> {
   public void setUp(NessieClientFactory clientFactory, @NessieClientUri URI nessieUri)
       throws NessieNotFoundException {
     api = clientFactory.make();
-    apiVersion = clientFactory.apiVersion();
     initialHashOfDefaultBranch = api.getDefaultBranch().getHash();
     uri = nessieUri.toASCIIString();
     hadoopConfig = new Configuration();
@@ -122,9 +119,7 @@ private NessieCatalog initNessieCatalog(String ref) {
             CatalogProperties.URI,
             uri,
             CatalogProperties.WAREHOUSE_LOCATION,
-            temp.toUri().toString(),
-            "client-api-version",
-            apiVersion == NessieApiVersion.V2 ? "2" : "1");
+            temp.toUri().toString());
     newCatalog.initialize("nessie", options);
     return newCatalog;
   }