diff --git a/block/block.go b/block/block.go
index a1d7b90e5..75f935322 100644
--- a/block/block.go
+++ b/block/block.go
@@ -14,10 +14,12 @@ import (
 // applyBlockWithFraudHandling calls applyBlock and validateBlockBeforeApply with fraud handling.
 func (m *Manager) applyBlockWithFraudHandling(block *types.Block, commit *types.Commit, blockMetaData types.BlockMetaData) error {
 	validateWithFraud := func() error {
-		if err := m.validateBlockBeforeApply(block, commit); err != nil {
-			m.blockCache.Delete(block.Header.Height)
-			// TODO: can we take an action here such as dropping the peer / reducing their reputation?
-			return fmt.Errorf("block not valid at height %d, dropping it: err:%w", block.Header.Height, err)
+		if m.Conf.SkipValidationHeight != block.Header.Height {
+			if err := m.validateBlockBeforeApply(block, commit); err != nil {
+				m.blockCache.Delete(block.Header.Height)
+				// TODO: can we take an action here such as dropping the peer / reducing their reputation?
+				return fmt.Errorf("block not valid at height %d, dropping it: err:%w", block.Header.Height, err)
+			}
 		}
 
 		if err := m.applyBlock(block, commit, blockMetaData); err != nil {
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index c19c58277..805200b09 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ type BlockManagerConfig struct {
 	BatchSubmitBytes uint64 `mapstructure:"batch_submit_bytes"`
 	// SequencerSetUpdateInterval defines the interval at which to fetch sequencer updates from the settlement layer
 	SequencerSetUpdateInterval time.Duration `mapstructure:"sequencer_update_interval"`
+	// SkipValidationHeight can be used to skip fraud validation for a specific height (used to bypass backward compatibility issues between versions)
+	SkipValidationHeight uint64 `mapstructure:"skip_validation_height"`
 }
 
 // GetViperConfig reads configuration parameters from Viper instance.
diff --git a/config/defaults.go b/config/defaults.go
index b72ef3aac..fc4e4eb70 100644
--- a/config/defaults.go
+++ b/config/defaults.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ func DefaultConfig(home string) *NodeConfig {
 			MaxSkewTime:                24 * 7 * time.Hour,
 			BatchSubmitBytes:           500000,
 			SequencerSetUpdateInterval: DefaultSequencerSetUpdateInterval,
+			SkipValidationHeight:       0,
 		},
 		SettlementLayer: "mock",
 		Instrumentation: &InstrumentationConfig{
diff --git a/config/flags.go b/config/flags.go
index 1f1eaf83e..117f4a3ac 100644
--- a/config/flags.go
+++ b/config/flags.go
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	FlagDAConfig         = "dymint.da_config"
-	FlagBlockTime        = "dymint.block_time"
-	FlagMaxIdleTime      = "dymint.max_idle_time"
-	FlagBatchSubmitTime  = "dymint.batch_submit_time"
-	FlagBatchSubmitBytes = "dymint.batch_submit_bytes"
+	FlagDAConfig             = "dymint.da_config"
+	FlagBlockTime            = "dymint.block_time"
+	FlagMaxIdleTime          = "dymint.max_idle_time"
+	FlagBatchSubmitTime      = "dymint.batch_submit_time"
+	FlagBatchSubmitBytes     = "dymint.batch_submit_bytes"
+	FlagSkipValidationHeight = "dymint.skip_validation_height"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -54,11 +55,11 @@ func AddNodeFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.Flags().String(FlagSLGasFees, def.SettlementConfig.GasFees, "Settlement Layer gas fees")
 	cmd.Flags().String(FlagSLGasPrices, def.SettlementConfig.GasPrices, "Settlement Layer gas prices")
 	cmd.Flags().Uint64(FlagSLGasLimit, def.SettlementConfig.GasLimit, "Settlement Layer batch submit gas limit")
-
 	cmd.Flags().String(FlagP2PListenAddress, def.P2PConfig.ListenAddress, "P2P listen address")
 	cmd.Flags().String(FlagP2PBootstrapNodes, def.P2PConfig.BootstrapNodes, "P2P bootstrap nodes")
 	cmd.Flags().Duration(FlagP2PBootstrapRetryTime, def.P2PConfig.BootstrapRetryTime, "P2P bootstrap time")
 	cmd.Flags().Uint64(FlagP2PGossipCacheSize, uint64(def.P2PConfig.GossipSubCacheSize), "P2P Gossiped blocks cache size") //nolint:gosec // GossipSubCacheSize should be always positive
+	cmd.Flags().Uint64(FlagSkipValidationHeight, def.SkipValidationHeight, "Full-node validation will be skipped for the specified height")
 }
 
 func BindDymintFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, v *viper.Viper) error {
@@ -77,6 +78,9 @@ func BindDymintFlags(cmd *cobra.Command, v *viper.Viper) error {
 	if err := v.BindPFlag("batch_submit_bytes", cmd.Flags().Lookup(FlagBatchSubmitBytes)); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if err := v.BindPFlag("skip_validation_height", cmd.Flags().Lookup(FlagSkipValidationHeight)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if err := v.BindPFlag("settlement_layer", cmd.Flags().Lookup(FlagSettlementLayer)); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}