diff --git a/xarray/tests/__init__.py b/xarray/tests/__init__.py
index 07ba0be6a8c..0a70334bc01 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/__init__.py
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ def _importorskip(
 requires_pandas_version_two = pytest.mark.skipif(
     not has_pandas_version_two, reason="requires pandas 2.0.0"
 )
+has_h5netcdf_ros3 = _importorskip("h5netcdf", "1.3.0")
+requires_h5netcdf_ros3 = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    not has_h5netcdf_ros3[0], reason="requires h5netcdf 1.3.0"
+)
 
 # change some global options for tests
 set_options(warn_for_unclosed_files=True)
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
index b8de49c0365..b9fa499a03d 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_backends.py
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
     requires_scipy,
     requires_scipy_or_netCDF4,
     requires_zarr,
+    requires_h5netcdf_ros3,
 )
 from xarray.tests.test_coding_times import (
     _ALL_CALENDARS,
@@ -3444,7 +3445,7 @@ def test_write_inconsistent_chunks(self) -> None:
             assert actual["y"].encoding["chunksizes"] == (100, 50)
 
 
-@requires_h5netcdf
+@requires_h5netcdf_ros3
 class TestH5NetCDFDataRos3Driver(TestCommon):
     engine: T_NetcdfEngine = "h5netcdf"
     test_remote_dataset: str = (