diff --git a/pkg/apis/velero/v1/labels_annotations.go b/pkg/apis/velero/v1/labels_annotations.go
index f0a4e0064..172b436a8 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/velero/v1/labels_annotations.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/velero/v1/labels_annotations.go
@@ -51,15 +51,15 @@ const (
 	// namespace a restic repository stores pod volume backups for.
 	ResticVolumeNamespaceLabel = "velero.io/volume-namespace"
 
-	// SourceClusterK8sVersionLabel is the label key used to identify the k8s
+	// SourceClusterK8sVersionAnnotation is the label key used to identify the k8s
 	// git version of the backup , i.e. v1.16.4
-	SourceClusterK8sGitVersionLabel = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion"
+	SourceClusterK8sGitVersionAnnotation = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion"
 
-	// SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionLabel is the label key used to identify the k8s
+	// SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionAnnotation is the label key used to identify the k8s
 	// major version of the backup , i.e. 1
-	SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionLabel = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version"
+	SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionAnnotation = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version"
 
-	// SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionLabel is the label key used to identify the k8s
+	// SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionAnnotation is the label key used to identify the k8s
 	// minor version of the backup , i.e. 16
-	SourceClusterK8sMinorVersionLabel = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version"
+	SourceClusterK8sMinorVersionAnnotation = "velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version"
 )
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go b/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
index 131f33ac5..ef7a91dc3 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
@@ -333,9 +333,12 @@ func (c *backupController) prepareBackupRequest(backup *velerov1api.Backup) *pkg
 	request.Labels[velerov1api.StorageLocationLabel] = label.GetValidName(request.Spec.StorageLocation)
 
 	// Getting all information of cluster version - useful for future skip-level migration
-	request.Labels[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sGitVersionLabel] = label.GetValidName(c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().String())
-	request.Labels[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionLabel] = label.GetValidName(c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().Major)
-	request.Labels[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sMinorVersionLabel] = label.GetValidName(c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().Minor)
+	if request.Annotations == nil {
+		request.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+	request.Annotations[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sGitVersionAnnotation] = c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().String()
+	request.Annotations[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sMajorVersionAnnotation] = c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().Major
+	request.Annotations[velerov1api.SourceClusterK8sMinorVersionAnnotation] = c.discoveryHelper.ServerVersion().Minor
 
 	// validate the included/excluded resources
 	for _, err := range collections.ValidateIncludesExcludes(request.Spec.IncludedResources, request.Spec.ExcludedResources) {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
index 6d1b750fe..99bd653b1 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
@@ -359,11 +359,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "loc-1",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "loc-1",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -390,11 +392,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "alt-loc",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "alt-loc",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -424,11 +428,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "read-write",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "read-write",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -455,11 +461,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "loc-1",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "loc-1",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -488,11 +496,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "loc-1",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "loc-1",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -522,11 +532,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "loc-1",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "loc-1",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{
@@ -554,11 +566,13 @@ func TestProcessBackupCompletions(t *testing.T) {
 				ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 					Namespace: velerov1api.DefaultNamespace,
 					Name:      "backup-1",
-					Labels: map[string]string{
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-major-version": "1",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-minor-version": "16",
 						"velero.io/source-cluster-k8s-gitversion":    "v1.16.4",
-						"velero.io/storage-location":                 "loc-1",
+					},
+					Labels: map[string]string{
+						"velero.io/storage-location": "loc-1",
 					},
 				},
 				Spec: velerov1api.BackupSpec{