diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/inc/ROOT/RColumnElementBase.hxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/inc/ROOT/RColumnElementBase.hxx
index e93dfcba2725dd..5d39b2db12679c 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/inc/ROOT/RColumnElementBase.hxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/inc/ROOT/RColumnElementBase.hxx
@@ -123,6 +123,13 @@ enum class EColumnCppType {
    kDouble,
    kClusterSize,
    kColumnSwitch,
+   kMax
+};
+
+inline constexpr EColumnCppType kTestFutureColumn = static_cast<EColumnCppType>((int)EColumnCppType::kMax + 1);
+
+struct RTestFutureColumn {
+   int dummy;
 };
 
 std::unique_ptr<RColumnElementBase> GenerateColumnElement(EColumnCppType cppType, EColumnType colType);
@@ -160,6 +167,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<RColumnElementBase> RColumnElementBase::Generate(EColumnType typ
       return GenerateColumnElement(EColumnCppType::kClusterSize, type);
    else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<CppT, RColumnSwitch>)
       return GenerateColumnElement(EColumnCppType::kColumnSwitch, type);
+   else if constexpr (std::is_same_v<CppT, RTestFutureColumn>)
+      return GenerateColumnElement(kTestFutureColumn, type);
    else
       static_assert(!sizeof(CppT), "Unsupported Cpp type");
 }
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.cxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.cxx
index cbd79fcd3aab6b..e9807d670999c2 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.cxx
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RColumnElementBase::GetValidBitRange(EColumnType t
    case EColumnType::kSplitInt16: return std::make_pair(16, 16);
    case EColumnType::kSplitUInt16: return std::make_pair(16, 16);
    case EColumnType::kReal32Trunc: return std::make_pair(10, 31);
+   case kTestFutureType: return std::make_pair(32, 32);
    default: assert(false);
    }
    // never here
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ std::string ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RColumnElementBase::GetTypeName(EColum
    case EColumnType::kSplitInt16: return "SplitInt16";
    case EColumnType::kSplitUInt16: return "SplitUInt16";
    case EColumnType::kReal32Trunc: return "Real32Trunc";
+   case kTestFutureType: return "TestFutureType";
    default: return "UNKNOWN";
    }
 }
@@ -134,6 +136,7 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RColumnElementBase::Generate<void>(EColumnType typ
    case EColumnType::kSplitInt16: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<std::int16_t, EColumnType::kSplitInt16>>();
    case EColumnType::kSplitUInt16: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<std::uint16_t, EColumnType::kSplitUInt16>>();
    case EColumnType::kReal32Trunc: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<float, EColumnType::kReal32Trunc>>();
+   case kTestFutureType: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<Internal::RTestFutureColumn, kTestFutureType>>();
    default: assert(false);
    }
    // never here
@@ -159,6 +162,7 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::GenerateColumnElement(EColumnCppType cppType, ECol
    case EColumnCppType::kDouble: return GenerateColumnElementInternal<double>(type);
    case EColumnCppType::kClusterSize: return GenerateColumnElementInternal<ClusterSize_t>(type);
    case EColumnCppType::kColumnSwitch: return GenerateColumnElementInternal<RColumnSwitch>(type);
+   case kTestFutureColumn: return GenerateColumnElementInternal<RTestFutureColumn>(type);
    default: R__ASSERT(!"Invalid column cpp type");
    }
    // never here
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.hxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.hxx
index 991ecd44243f30..c495a784aa13b6 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.hxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RColumnElement.hxx
@@ -266,6 +266,9 @@ namespace {
 using ROOT::Experimental::EColumnType;
 using ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RColumnElementBase;
 
+// testing value for an unknown future column type
+inline constexpr EColumnType kTestFutureType = static_cast<EColumnType>(int(EColumnType::kMax) + 1);
+
 template <typename CppT, EColumnType>
 class RColumnElement;
 
@@ -301,6 +304,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<RColumnElementBase> GenerateColumnElementInternal(EColumnType ty
    case EColumnType::kSplitInt16: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<CppT, EColumnType::kSplitInt16>>();
    case EColumnType::kSplitUInt16: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<CppT, EColumnType::kSplitUInt16>>();
    case EColumnType::kReal32Trunc: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<CppT, EColumnType::kReal32Trunc>>();
+   case kTestFutureType: return std::make_unique<RColumnElement<CppT, kTestFutureType>>();
    default: R__ASSERT(false);
    }
    // never here
@@ -847,6 +851,20 @@ DECLARE_RCOLUMNELEMENT_SPEC(ROOT::Experimental::ClusterSize_t, EColumnType::kSpl
 DECLARE_RCOLUMNELEMENT_SPEC(ROOT::Experimental::ClusterSize_t, EColumnType::kSplitIndex32, 32,
                             RColumnElementDeltaSplitLE, <std::uint64_t, std::uint32_t>);
 
+template <>
+class RColumnElement<ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RTestFutureColumn, kTestFutureType>
+   final : public RColumnElementBase {
+public:
+   static constexpr bool kIsMappable = false;
+   static constexpr std::size_t kSize = sizeof(ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RTestFutureColumn);
+   static constexpr std::size_t kBitsOnStorage = kSize * 8;
+   RColumnElement() : RColumnElementBase(kSize, kBitsOnStorage) {}
+
+   bool IsMappable() const { return kIsMappable; }
+   void Pack(void *, const void *, std::size_t) const {}
+   void Unpack(void *, const void *, std::size_t) const {}
+};
+
 inline void
 RColumnElement<bool, ROOT::Experimental::EColumnType::kBit>::Pack(void *dst, const void *src, std::size_t count) const
 {
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleDescriptor.cxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleDescriptor.cxx
index 743da9825e3cb8..4adbfae5b00b3e 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleDescriptor.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleDescriptor.cxx
@@ -822,14 +822,19 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RColumnDescriptorBuilder::MakeDescriptor() const
       return R__FAIL("invalid logical column id");
    if (fColumn.GetPhysicalId() == kInvalidDescriptorId)
       return R__FAIL("invalid physical column id");
-   if (fColumn.GetType() == EColumnType::kUnknown)
-      return R__FAIL("invalid column model");
    if (fColumn.GetFieldId() == kInvalidDescriptorId)
       return R__FAIL("invalid field id, dangling column");
 
-   const auto [minBits, maxBits] = RColumnElementBase::GetValidBitRange(fColumn.GetType());
-   if (fColumn.GetBitsOnStorage() < minBits || fColumn.GetBitsOnStorage() > maxBits)
-      return R__FAIL("invalid column bit width");
+   // NOTE: if the column type is unknown we don't want to fail, as we might be reading an RNTuple
+   // created with a future version of ROOT. In this case we just skip the valid bit range check,
+   // as we have no idea what the valid range is.
+   // In general, reading the metadata of an unknown column is fine, it becomes an error only when
+   // we try to read the actual data contained in it.
+   if (fColumn.GetType() != EColumnType::kUnknown) {
+      const auto [minBits, maxBits] = RColumnElementBase::GetValidBitRange(fColumn.GetType());
+      if (fColumn.GetBitsOnStorage() < minBits || fColumn.GetBitsOnStorage() > maxBits)
+         return R__FAIL("invalid column bit width");
+   }
 
    return fColumn.Clone();
 }
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleSerialize.cxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleSerialize.cxx
index aec83f5c1b0eb0..eb546b95e3e5ca 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleSerialize.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/src/RNTupleSerialize.cxx
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 #include <ROOT/RNTupleSerialize.hxx>
 #include <ROOT/RNTupleUtil.hxx>
 
+#include "RColumnElement.hxx"
+
 #include <RVersion.h>
 #include <TBufferFile.h>
 #include <TClass.h>
@@ -686,6 +688,7 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RNTupleSerializer::SerializeColumnType(ROOT::Exper
    case EColumnType::kSplitInt16: return SerializeUInt16(0x1C, buffer);
    case EColumnType::kSplitUInt16: return SerializeUInt16(0x15, buffer);
    case EColumnType::kReal32Trunc: return SerializeUInt16(0x1D, buffer);
+   case kTestFutureType: return SerializeUInt16(0x99, buffer);
    default: throw RException(R__FAIL("ROOT bug: unexpected column type"));
    }
 }
@@ -699,6 +702,7 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RNTupleSerializer::DeserializeColumnType(const voi
    auto result = DeserializeUInt16(buffer, onDiskType);
 
    switch (onDiskType) {
+   case 0x00: return R__FAIL("unexpected on-disk column type");
    case 0x01: type = EColumnType::kIndex64; break;
    case 0x02: type = EColumnType::kIndex32; break;
    case 0x03: type = EColumnType::kSwitch; break;
@@ -727,7 +731,11 @@ ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RNTupleSerializer::DeserializeColumnType(const voi
    case 0x1C: type = EColumnType::kSplitInt16; break;
    case 0x15: type = EColumnType::kSplitUInt16; break;
    case 0x1D: type = EColumnType::kReal32Trunc; break;
-   default: return R__FAIL("unexpected on-disk column type");
+   // case 0x99 => kTestFutureType missing on purpose
+   default:
+      // may be a column type introduced by a future version
+      type = EColumnType::kUnknown;
+      break;
    }
    return result;
 }
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_compat.cxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_compat.cxx
index 49bfeda808d131..4b8ea065696423 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_compat.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_compat.cxx
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@
 #include "ROOT/EExecutionPolicy.hxx"
 #include "RXTuple.hxx"
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <memory>
+#include <cstdio>
+
+#include "../src/RColumnElement.hxx"
 
 TEST(RNTupleCompat, Epoch)
 {
@@ -65,7 +69,7 @@ TEST(RNTupleCompat, FeatureFlag)
    }
 }
 
-TEST(RNTupleCompat, FwdCompat_FutureNTuple)
+TEST(RNTupleCompat, FwdCompat_FutureNTupleAnchor)
 {
    using ROOT::Experimental::RXTuple;
 
@@ -223,3 +227,48 @@ TEST(RNTupleCompat, NTupleV4)
       EXPECT_EQ(ntuple.GetMaxKeySize(), 0);
    }
 }
+
+template <>
+class ROOT::Experimental::RField<ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RTestFutureColumn> final
+   : public RSimpleField<ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RTestFutureColumn> {
+protected:
+   std::unique_ptr<RFieldBase> CloneImpl(std::string_view newName) const final
+   {
+      return std::make_unique<RField>(newName);
+   }
+   const RColumnRepresentations &GetColumnRepresentations() const final
+   {
+      static const RColumnRepresentations representations{{{kTestFutureType}}, {}};
+      return representations;
+   }
+
+public:
+   static std::string TypeName() { return "FutureColumn"; }
+   explicit RField(std::string_view name) : RSimpleField(name, TypeName()) {}
+   RField(RField &&other) = default;
+   RField &operator=(RField &&other) = default;
+   ~RField() override = default;
+};
+
+TEST(RNTupleCompat, FutureColumnType)
+{
+   // Write a RNTuple containing a field with an unknown column type and verify we can
+   // read back the ntuple and its descriptor.
+
+   FileRaii fileGuard("test_ntuple_compat_future_col_type.root");
+   {
+      auto model = RNTupleModel::Create();
+      auto col = model->MakeField<ROOT::Experimental::Internal::RTestFutureColumn>("futureColumn");
+      auto writeOpts = RNTupleWriteOptions();
+      writeOpts.SetCompression(0);
+      auto writer = RNTupleWriter::Recreate(std::move(model), "ntpl", fileGuard.GetPath(), writeOpts);
+      col->dummy = 0x42424242;
+      writer->Fill();
+   }
+
+   auto reader = RNTupleReader::Open("ntpl", fileGuard.GetPath());
+   const auto &desc = reader->GetDescriptor();
+   const auto &fdesc = desc.GetFieldDescriptor(desc.FindFieldId("futureColumn"));
+   const auto &cdesc = desc.GetColumnDescriptor(fdesc.GetLogicalColumnIds()[0]);
+   EXPECT_EQ(cdesc.GetType(), EColumnType::kUnknown);
+}
diff --git a/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_serialize.cxx b/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_serialize.cxx
index 3b06c07b0d9037..54e3a37e8d5c45 100644
--- a/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_serialize.cxx
+++ b/tree/ntuple/v7/test/ntuple_serialize.cxx
@@ -63,12 +63,8 @@ TEST(RNTuple, SerializeColumnType)
    }
 
    RNTupleSerializer::SerializeUInt16(5000, buffer);
-   try {
-      RNTupleSerializer::DeserializeColumnType(buffer, type).Unwrap();
-      FAIL() << "unexpected on disk column type should throw";
-   } catch (const RException& err) {
-      EXPECT_THAT(err.what(), testing::HasSubstr("unexpected on-disk column type"));
-   }
+   auto res = RNTupleSerializer::DeserializeColumnType(buffer, type);
+   EXPECT_TRUE(bool(res));
 
    for (int i = 1; i < static_cast<int>(EColumnType::kMax); ++i) {
       RNTupleSerializer::SerializeColumnType(static_cast<EColumnType>(i), buffer);