diff --git a/compaction.go b/compaction.go
index ba8d2cc5d3..fcc840dd39 100644
--- a/compaction.go
+++ b/compaction.go
@@ -2772,17 +2772,16 @@ func (d *DB) runCompaction(
 	// The table is typically written at the maximum allowable format implied by
 	// the current format major version of the DB.
 	tableFormat := formatVers.MaxTableFormat()
-	if tableFormat > sstable.TableFormatPebblev3 {
-		// Since TableFormatPebblev3 does not currently subsume
-		// TableFormatPebblev2, this panic ensures that we have carefully thought
-		// through what we are doing before we introduce a format beyond
-		// TableFormatPebblev3.
-		panic("cannot handle table format beyond TableFormatPebblev3")
-	}
+
+	// In format major versions with maximum table formats of Pebblev3, value
+	// blocks were conditional on an experimental setting. In format major
+	// versions with maximum table formats of Pebblev4 and higher, value blocks
+	// are always enabled.
 	if tableFormat == sstable.TableFormatPebblev3 &&
 		(d.opts.Experimental.EnableValueBlocks == nil || !d.opts.Experimental.EnableValueBlocks()) {
 		tableFormat = sstable.TableFormatPebblev2
 	}
+
 	writerOpts := d.opts.MakeWriterOptions(c.outputLevel.level, tableFormat)
 	if formatVers < FormatBlockPropertyCollector {
 		// Cannot yet write block properties.
diff --git a/data_test.go b/data_test.go
index 74973ee61f..ce1d06f6a4 100644
--- a/data_test.go
+++ b/data_test.go
@@ -606,6 +606,8 @@ func runBuildCmd(td *datadriven.TestData, d *DB, fs vfs.FS) error {
 				tableFormat = sstable.TableFormatPebblev2
 			case "pebblev3":
 				tableFormat = sstable.TableFormatPebblev3
+			case "pebblev4":
+				tableFormat = sstable.TableFormatPebblev4
 			default:
 				return errors.Errorf("unknown format string %s", cmdArg.Vals[0])
 			}
diff --git a/format_major_version.go b/format_major_version.go
index 48b3b2840f..6d96297075 100644
--- a/format_major_version.go
+++ b/format_major_version.go
@@ -168,8 +168,7 @@ func (v FormatMajorVersion) MaxTableFormat() sstable.TableFormat {
 	case FormatRangeKeys, FormatMinTableFormatPebblev1, FormatPrePebblev1Marked,
 		FormatUnusedPrePebblev1MarkedCompacted:
 		return sstable.TableFormatPebblev2
-	case FormatSSTableValueBlocks, FormatFlushableIngest,
-		FormatPrePebblev1MarkedCompacted:
+	case FormatSSTableValueBlocks, FormatFlushableIngest, FormatPrePebblev1MarkedCompacted:
 		return sstable.TableFormatPebblev3
 	default:
 		panic(fmt.Sprintf("pebble: unsupported format major version: %s", v))
diff --git a/options.go b/options.go
index 4e99437c07..2bdc9d505c 100644
--- a/options.go
+++ b/options.go
@@ -613,8 +613,11 @@ type Options struct {
 		PointTombstoneWeight float64
 
 		// EnableValueBlocks is used to decide whether to enable writing
-		// TableFormatPebblev3 sstables. WARNING: do not return true yet, since
-		// support for TableFormatPebblev3 is incomplete and not production ready.
+		// TableFormatPebblev3 sstables. This setting is only respected by a
+		// specific subset of format major versions: FormatSSTableValueBlocks,
+		// FormatFlushableIngest and FormatPrePebblev1MarkedCompacted. In lower
+		// format major versions, value blocks are never enabled. In higher
+		// format major versions, value blocks are always enabled.
 		EnableValueBlocks func() bool
 
 		// ShortAttributeExtractor is used iff EnableValueBlocks() returns true
diff --git a/sstable/format.go b/sstable/format.go
index f719ec0e73..91909835c2 100644
--- a/sstable/format.go
+++ b/sstable/format.go
@@ -23,12 +23,10 @@ const (
 	TableFormatRocksDBv2
 	TableFormatPebblev1 // Block properties.
 	TableFormatPebblev2 // Range keys.
-	// TableFormatPebblev3 is not currently intended to subsume v2, as
-	// supporting value blocks adds a 1 byte prefix to each value. After
-	// thorough experimentation and some production experience, this may change.
 	TableFormatPebblev3 // Value blocks.
+	TableFormatPebblev4 // Reserved.
 
-	TableFormatMax = TableFormatPebblev3
+	TableFormatMax = TableFormatPebblev4
 )
 
 // ParseTableFormat parses the given magic bytes and version into its
@@ -52,6 +50,8 @@ func ParseTableFormat(magic []byte, version uint32) (TableFormat, error) {
 			return TableFormatPebblev2, nil
 		case 3:
 			return TableFormatPebblev3, nil
+		case 4:
+			return TableFormatPebblev4, nil
 		default:
 			return TableFormatUnspecified, base.CorruptionErrorf(
 				"pebble/table: unsupported pebble format version %d", errors.Safe(version),
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ func (f TableFormat) AsTuple() (string, uint32) {
 		return pebbleDBMagic, 2
 	case TableFormatPebblev3:
 		return pebbleDBMagic, 3
+	case TableFormatPebblev4:
+		return pebbleDBMagic, 4
 	default:
 		panic("sstable: unknown table format version tuple")
 	}
@@ -95,6 +97,8 @@ func (f TableFormat) String() string {
 		return "(Pebble,v2)"
 	case TableFormatPebblev3:
 		return "(Pebble,v3)"
+	case TableFormatPebblev4:
+		return "(Pebble,v4)"
 	default:
 		panic("sstable: unknown table format version tuple")
 	}
diff --git a/sstable/format_test.go b/sstable/format_test.go
index cd1d1735be..f5589c1239 100644
--- a/sstable/format_test.go
+++ b/sstable/format_test.go
@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ func TestTableFormat_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 			version: 3,
 			want:    TableFormatPebblev3,
 		},
+		{
+			name:    "PebbleDBv4",
+			magic:   pebbleDBMagic,
+			version: 4,
+			want:    TableFormatPebblev4,
+		},
 		// Invalid cases.
 		{
 			name:    "Invalid RocksDB version",
@@ -59,8 +65,8 @@ func TestTableFormat_RoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:    "Invalid PebbleDB version",
 			magic:   pebbleDBMagic,
-			version: 4,
-			wantErr: "pebble/table: unsupported pebble format version 4",
+			version: 5,
+			wantErr: "pebble/table: unsupported pebble format version 5",
 		},
 		{
 			name:    "Unknown magic string",
diff --git a/sstable/reader.go b/sstable/reader.go
index 97f027e817..0bbfd628a2 100644
--- a/sstable/reader.go
+++ b/sstable/reader.go
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ func (i *singleLevelIterator) init(
 		return err
 	}
 	i.dataRH = objstorageprovider.UsePreallocatedReadHandle(ctx, r.readable, &i.dataRHPrealloc)
-	if r.tableFormat == TableFormatPebblev3 {
+	if r.tableFormat >= TableFormatPebblev3 {
 		if r.Properties.NumValueBlocks > 0 {
 			// NB: we cannot avoid this ~248 byte allocation, since valueBlockReader
 			// can outlive the singleLevelIterator due to be being embedded in a
@@ -1874,7 +1874,7 @@ func (i *twoLevelIterator) init(
 		return err
 	}
 	i.dataRH = r.readable.NewReadHandle(ctx)
-	if r.tableFormat == TableFormatPebblev3 {
+	if r.tableFormat >= TableFormatPebblev3 {
 		if r.Properties.NumValueBlocks > 0 {
 			i.vbReader = &valueBlockReader{
 				ctx:    ctx,
@@ -4067,7 +4067,7 @@ func (l *Layout) Describe(
 				formatIsRestart(iter.data, iter.restarts, iter.numRestarts, iter.offset)
 				if fmtRecord != nil {
 					fmt.Fprintf(w, "              ")
-					if l.Format != TableFormatPebblev3 {
+					if l.Format < TableFormatPebblev3 {
 						fmtRecord(key, value.InPlaceValue())
 					} else {
 						// InPlaceValue() will succeed even for data blocks where the
diff --git a/sstable/suffix_rewriter.go b/sstable/suffix_rewriter.go
index 39089c9884..984e8d139e 100644
--- a/sstable/suffix_rewriter.go
+++ b/sstable/suffix_rewriter.go
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ func rewriteBlocks(
 			// in the block, which includes the 1-byte prefix. This is fine since bw
 			// also does not know about the prefix and will preserve it in bw.add.
 			v := val.InPlaceValue()
-			if invariants.Enabled && r.tableFormat == TableFormatPebblev3 &&
+			if invariants.Enabled && r.tableFormat >= TableFormatPebblev3 &&
 				key.Kind() == InternalKeyKindSet {
 				if len(v) < 1 {
 					return errors.Errorf("value has no prefix")
diff --git a/sstable/suffix_rewriter_test.go b/sstable/suffix_rewriter_test.go
index 47141ff70b..da6a47232c 100644
--- a/sstable/suffix_rewriter_test.go
+++ b/sstable/suffix_rewriter_test.go
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ func TestRewriteSuffixProps(t *testing.T) {
 	from, to := []byte("_212"), []byte("_646")
 
 	format := TableFormatPebblev2
-	if rand.Intn(2) != 0 {
-		format = TableFormatPebblev3
-	}
+	format += TableFormat(rand.Intn(int(TableFormatPebblev4 - TableFormatPebblev2)))
 	t.Logf("table format: %s\n", format.String())
 	wOpts := WriterOptions{
 		FilterPolicy: bloom.FilterPolicy(10),
diff --git a/sstable/table.go b/sstable/table.go
index f5e6a1c1d9..5267123029 100644
--- a/sstable/table.go
+++ b/sstable/table.go
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ func supportsTwoLevelIndex(format TableFormat) bool {
 	switch format {
 	case TableFormatLevelDB:
 		return false
-	case TableFormatRocksDBv2, TableFormatPebblev1, TableFormatPebblev2, TableFormatPebblev3:
+	case TableFormatRocksDBv2, TableFormatPebblev1, TableFormatPebblev2, TableFormatPebblev3, TableFormatPebblev4:
 		return true
 	default:
 		panic("sstable: unspecified table format version")
diff --git a/sstable/testdata/writer_value_blocks b/sstable/testdata/writer_value_blocks
index 04d664bc34..745cc97ad8 100644
--- a/sstable/testdata/writer_value_blocks
+++ b/sstable/testdata/writer_value_blocks
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ layout
       1255    meta: offset=1185, length=64
       1258    index: offset=264, length=77
       1261    [padding]
-      1295    version: 3
+      1295    version: 4
       1299    magic number: 0xf09faab3f09faab3
       1307  EOF
 
@@ -337,6 +337,6 @@ layout
        856    meta: offset=818, length=32
        859    index: offset=71, length=22
        861    [padding]
-       896    version: 3
+       896    version: 4
        900    magic number: 0xf09faab3f09faab3
        908  EOF
diff --git a/sstable/writer.go b/sstable/writer.go
index aaeda43ea1..d8186881c1 100644
--- a/sstable/writer.go
+++ b/sstable/writer.go
@@ -2110,7 +2110,7 @@ func NewWriter(writable objstorage.Writable, o WriterOptions, extraOpts ...Write
 			Format: o.Comparer.FormatKey,
 		},
 	}
-	if w.tableFormat == TableFormatPebblev3 {
+	if w.tableFormat >= TableFormatPebblev3 {
 		w.shortAttributeExtractor = o.ShortAttributeExtractor
 		w.requiredInPlaceValueBound = o.RequiredInPlaceValueBound
 		w.valueBlockWriter = newValueBlockWriter(
diff --git a/table_cache.go b/table_cache.go
index 0b97ce6903..9a3c5b5724 100644
--- a/table_cache.go
+++ b/table_cache.go
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ func (c *tableCacheShard) newIters(
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 	var rp sstable.ReaderProvider
-	if tableFormat == sstable.TableFormatPebblev3 && v.reader.Properties.NumValueBlocks > 0 {
+	if tableFormat >= sstable.TableFormatPebblev3 && v.reader.Properties.NumValueBlocks > 0 {
 		rp = &tableCacheShardReaderProvider{c: c, file: file, dbOpts: dbOpts}
 	}
 
diff --git a/testdata/format_major_version_pebblev1_migration b/testdata/format_major_version_pebblev1_migration
index 52c356e932..c579a53050 100644
--- a/testdata/format_major_version_pebblev1_migration
+++ b/testdata/format_major_version_pebblev1_migration
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ tally-table-formats
 (Pebble,v1): 1
 (Pebble,v2): 2
 (Pebble,v3): 0
+(Pebble,v4): 0
 
 # Upgrade the DB to FormatMinTableFormatPebblev1.
 
@@ -166,3 +167,4 @@ tally-table-formats
 (Pebble,v1): 1
 (Pebble,v2): 4
 (Pebble,v3): 0
+(Pebble,v4): 0