diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index a28ec66add..4fe8846dc4 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: mkdir -p $TEST_RESULTS
 
       - run-acceptance-tests:
-          additional-flags: -kubeconfig="$primary_kubeconfig" -secondary-kubeconfig="$secondary_kubeconfig"
+          additional-flags: -kubeconfig="$primary_kubeconfig" -secondary-kubeconfig="$secondary_kubeconfig" -disable-peering -run 'TestPeering*'
 
       - store_test_results:
           path: /tmp/test-results
@@ -999,6 +999,7 @@ workflows:
           context: consul-ci
           requires:
             - dev-upload-docker
+      - acceptance-aks-1-21
   nightly-acceptance-tests:
     triggers:
       - schedule:
diff --git a/acceptance/framework/config/config.go b/acceptance/framework/config/config.go
index 1bda173025..62fd094a33 100644
--- a/acceptance/framework/config/config.go
+++ b/acceptance/framework/config/config.go
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ type TestConfig struct {
 
 	EnableTransparentProxy bool
 
+	DisablePeering bool
+
 	ConsulImage    string
 	ConsulK8SImage string
 	ConsulVersion  *version.Version
diff --git a/acceptance/framework/flags/flags.go b/acceptance/framework/flags/flags.go
index 6565c2413d..b275bb0904 100644
--- a/acceptance/framework/flags/flags.go
+++ b/acceptance/framework/flags/flags.go
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ type TestFlags struct {
 
 	flagUseKind bool
 
+	flagDisablePeering bool
+
 	once sync.Once
 }
 
@@ -96,6 +98,8 @@ func (t *TestFlags) init() {
 
 	flag.BoolVar(&t.flagUseKind, "use-kind", false,
 		"If true, the tests will assume they are running against a local kind cluster(s).")
+	flag.BoolVar(&t.flagDisablePeering, "disable-peering", false,
+		"If true, the peering tests will not run.")
 
 	if t.flagEnterpriseLicense == "" {
 		t.flagEnterpriseLicense = os.Getenv("CONSUL_ENT_LICENSE")
@@ -140,6 +144,8 @@ func (t *TestFlags) TestConfigFromFlags() *config.TestConfig {
 
 		EnableTransparentProxy: t.flagEnableTransparentProxy,
 
+		DisablePeering: t.flagDisablePeering,
+
 		ConsulImage:    t.flagConsulImage,
 		ConsulK8SImage: t.flagConsulK8sImage,
 		ConsulVersion:  consulVersion,
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/peering/main_test.go b/acceptance/tests/peering/main_test.go
index fff59f1e70..12bb35afd5 100644
--- a/acceptance/tests/peering/main_test.go
+++ b/acceptance/tests/peering/main_test.go
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ var suite testsuite.Suite
 func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	suite = testsuite.NewSuite(m)
 
-	if suite.Config().EnableMultiCluster {
+	if suite.Config().EnableMultiCluster && !suite.Config().DisablePeering {
 		os.Exit(suite.Run())
 	} else {
-		fmt.Println("Skipping peering tests because -enable-multi-cluster is not set")
+		fmt.Println("Skipping peering tests because either -enable-multi-cluster is not set or -disable-peering is set")
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/charts/consul/test/terraform/aks/main.tf b/charts/consul/test/terraform/aks/main.tf
index e12ad64cf9..57de5d2a54 100644
--- a/charts/consul/test/terraform/aks/main.tf
+++ b/charts/consul/test/terraform/aks/main.tf
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ resource "azurerm_kubernetes_cluster" "default" {
   location            = azurerm_resource_group.default[count.index].location
   resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.default[count.index].name
   dns_prefix          = "consul-k8s-${random_id.suffix[count.index].dec}"
-  kubernetes_version  = "1.21.7"
+  kubernetes_version  = "1.21.14"
 
   // We're setting the network plugin and other network properties explicitly
   // here even though they are the same as defaults to ensure that none of these CIDRs