diff --git a/mcp/server.go b/mcp/server.go
index c1ded2a2..899c67b3 100644
--- a/mcp/server.go
+++ b/mcp/server.go
@@ -2048,6 +2048,22 @@ func (ss *ServerSession) handle(ctx context.Context, req *jsonrpc.Request) (any,
 		}
 	}
 
+	// A server that supports only 2026-07-28 and later serves no legacy call,
+	// initialize included.
+	if !validatedMeta.usesNewProtocol && req.IsCall() &&
+		!slices.ContainsFunc(ss.server.protocolVersions, func(v string) bool {
+			return v < protocolVersion20260728
+		}) {
+		data, _ := json.Marshal(UnsupportedProtocolVersionData{
+			Supported: ss.server.protocolVersions,
+		})
+		return nil, &jsonrpc.Error{
+			Code:    CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion,
+			Message: "legacy protocol version requests are not supported by this server",
+			Data:    data,
+		}
+	}
+
 	switch req.Method {
 	case methodInitialize, methodPing, notificationInitialized, notificationRootsListChanged, methodSetLevel, methodSubscribe, methodUnsubscribe:
 		if validatedMeta.usesNewProtocol {
diff --git a/mcp/server_test.go b/mcp/server_test.go
index c3bfcee8..02a461c4 100644
--- a/mcp/server_test.go
+++ b/mcp/server_test.go
@@ -2128,16 +2128,6 @@ func TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions(t *testing.T) {
 				client:    protocolVersion20241105,
 				want:      protocolVersion20250326,
 			},
-			{
-				// Nothing the server supports can carry an initialize
-				// handshake, so the answer names a handshake-era version the
-				// client can act on rather than one it could mistake for the
-				// new protocol.
-				name:      "server with no handshake version",
-				supported: []string{protocolVersion20260728},
-				client:    protocolVersion20250618,
-				want:      protocolVersion20251125,
-			},
 			{
 				name:      "unrestricted server keeps the default behavior",
 				supported: nil,
@@ -2220,7 +2210,93 @@ func TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions_NewProtocol(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestNotifySessionsIsolatesStalledPeer verifies that a session whose write
+// TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions_InitializeLegacy verifies that a legacy
+// initialize request is rejected with [CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion], naming
+// the supported versions, when [ServerOptions.SupportedProtocolVersions]
+// leaves the server no version that has an initialize handshake.
+func TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions_InitializeLegacy(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	server := NewServer(testImpl, &ServerOptions{
+		SupportedProtocolVersions: []string{protocolVersion20260728},
+	})
+	ct, st := NewInMemoryTransports()
+	ss, err := server.Connect(ctx, st, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("server.Connect: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer ss.Close()
+	_ = ct
+
+	params, err := json.Marshal(&InitializeParams{
+		ProtocolVersion: protocolVersion20251125,
+		Capabilities:    &ClientCapabilities{},
+		ClientInfo:      &Implementation{Name: "test", Version: "1"},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	_, err = ss.handle(ctx, &jsonrpc.Request{
+		ID:     jsonrpc2.Int64ID(1),
+		Method: methodInitialize,
+		Params: json.RawMessage(params),
+	})
+	var jerr *jsonrpc.Error
+	if !errors.As(err, &jerr) {
+		t.Fatalf("handle returned %v, want a *jsonrpc.Error", err)
+	}
+	if jerr.Code != CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion {
+		t.Fatalf("error code = %d, want %d", jerr.Code, CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion)
+	}
+	var data UnsupportedProtocolVersionData
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(jerr.Data, &data); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unmarshal error data: %v", err)
+	}
+	if diff := cmp.Diff([]string{protocolVersion20260728}, data.Supported); diff != "" {
+		t.Errorf("UnsupportedProtocolVersionData.Supported mismatch (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+	}
+	if ss.InitializeParams() != nil {
+		t.Errorf("session initialized after a rejected initialize: %+v", ss.InitializeParams())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions_LegacyDispatch verifies that a legacy
+// request (no _meta) is rejected with [CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion] when
+// the server only supports protocol versions >= 2026-07-28 via
+// [ServerOptions.SupportedProtocolVersions].
+func TestServerSupportedProtocolVersions_LegacyDispatch(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	server := NewServer(testImpl, &ServerOptions{
+		SupportedProtocolVersions: []string{protocolVersion20260728},
+	})
+	ct, st := NewInMemoryTransports()
+	ss, err := server.Connect(ctx, st, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("server.Connect: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer ss.Close()
+	_ = ct
+
+	_, err = ss.handle(ctx, &jsonrpc.Request{
+		ID:     jsonrpc2.Int64ID(1),
+		Method: methodListTools,
+		Params: json.RawMessage(`{}`),
+	})
+	var jerr *jsonrpc.Error
+	if !errors.As(err, &jerr) {
+		t.Fatalf("handle returned %v, want a *jsonrpc.Error", err)
+	}
+	if jerr.Code != CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion {
+		t.Fatalf("error code = %d, want %d", jerr.Code, CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion)
+	}
+	var data UnsupportedProtocolVersionData
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(jerr.Data, &data); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unmarshal error data: %v", err)
+	}
+	if diff := cmp.Diff([]string{protocolVersion20260728}, data.Supported); diff != "" {
+		t.Errorf("UnsupportedProtocolVersionData.Supported mismatch (-want +got):\n%s", diff)
+	}
+}
+
 // stalls — here a peer that never reads its end of the pipe — does not delay
 // or fail delivery to the other sessions in the same broadcast.
 func TestNotifySessionsIsolatesStalledPeer(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/mcp/shared.go b/mcp/shared.go
index f3b2a348..8cc11764 100644
--- a/mcp/shared.go
+++ b/mcp/shared.go
@@ -89,14 +89,10 @@ func negotiatedVersion(clientVersion string, supported []string) string {
 			return v
 		}
 	}
-	// If the server was enforced to support only protocolVersion20260728 and
-	// later, the initialize function should not be called.
-	// If a client calls the initialize function, return the protocolVersion20251125.
-	// As according to spec (https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/basic/lifecycle#version-negotiation):
-	// "If the server supports the requested protocol version, it MUST respond with the same version."
-	// "Otherwise, the server MUST respond with another protocol version it supports."
-	// "This SHOULD be the latest version supported by the server."
-	return protocolVersion20251125
+	// A server that supports no version before protocolVersion20260728 has
+	// nothing to negotiate. [ServerSession.handle] rejects initialize on such
+	// a server with CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion before it gets here.
+	return ""
 }
 
 // negotiateMutuallySupportedVersion returns a protocol version that is supported
diff --git a/mcp/streamable.go b/mcp/streamable.go
index 813a3824..a7ab2275 100644
--- a/mcp/streamable.go
+++ b/mcp/streamable.go
@@ -1212,10 +1212,10 @@ func (s *stream) keepAlive(ctx context.Context, interval time.Duration, committe
 //   - InvalidParams (-32602), UnsupportedProtocolVersion (-32022) and
 //     CodeMissingRequiredClientCapabilities (-32021) MUST
 //     return HTTP 400.
+//
+// UnsupportedProtocolVersion is the one code mapped for every protocol
+// version.
 func extractErrorStatus(ctx context.Context, msg jsonrpc.Message) int {
-	if protocolVersionFromContext(ctx) < protocolVersion20260728 {
-		return 0
-	}
 	resp, ok := msg.(*jsonrpc.Response)
 	if !ok || resp.Error == nil {
 		return 0
@@ -1224,10 +1224,20 @@ func extractErrorStatus(ctx context.Context, msg jsonrpc.Message) int {
 	if !errors.As(resp.Error, &jerr) {
 		return 0
 	}
+	// A legacy request gets this code only from a server that supports no
+	// version before 2026-07-28, which rejects it in ServerSession.handle
+	// before any handler runs, so nothing has been written to the response
+	// yet.
+	if jerr.Code == CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion {
+		return http.StatusBadRequest
+	}
+	if protocolVersionFromContext(ctx) < protocolVersion20260728 {
+		return 0
+	}
 	switch jerr.Code {
 	case jsonrpc.CodeMethodNotFound:
 		return http.StatusNotFound
-	case jsonrpc.CodeInvalidParams, CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion, CodeMissingRequiredClientCapabilities:
+	case jsonrpc.CodeInvalidParams, CodeMissingRequiredClientCapabilities:
 		return http.StatusBadRequest
 	}
 	return 0
diff --git a/mcp/streamable_test.go b/mcp/streamable_test.go
index a5d987ab..5ad4ae10 100644
--- a/mcp/streamable_test.go
+++ b/mcp/streamable_test.go
@@ -1757,6 +1757,53 @@ func TestStreamableStateless(t *testing.T) {
 	testClientCompatibility(t, statelessHandler)
 }
 
+// TestStreamableStateless_RejectsLegacyOn2026OnlyServer verifies that a
+// stateless server configured with [ServerOptions.SupportedProtocolVersions]
+// set to only ["2026-07-28"] rejects legacy-format requests (no _meta, no
+// Mcp-Protocol-Version header) with [CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion].
+func TestStreamableStateless_RejectsLegacyOn2026OnlyServer(t *testing.T) {
+	server := NewServer(testImpl, &ServerOptions{
+		SupportedProtocolVersions: []string{protocolVersion20260728},
+	})
+	handler := NewStreamableHTTPHandler(func(*http.Request) *Server { return server }, &StreamableHTTPOptions{
+		Stateless:    true,
+		JSONResponse: true,
+	})
+	defer handler.closeAll()
+
+	ts := httptest.NewServer(handler)
+	defer ts.Close()
+
+	body, _ := jsonrpc2.EncodeMessage(req(1, methodListTools, &ListToolsParams{}))
+	httpReq, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, ts.URL, bytes.NewReader(body))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("NewRequest: %v", err)
+	}
+	httpReq.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+	httpReq.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json, text/event-stream")
+	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(httpReq)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("POST failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+
+	if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusBadRequest {
+		t.Errorf("status = %d, want %d", resp.StatusCode, http.StatusBadRequest)
+	}
+	got, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	var errResp struct {
+		Error struct {
+			Code int64 `json:"code"`
+		} `json:"error"`
+	}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(got, &errResp); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unmarshal response: %v\nbody: %s", err, got)
+	}
+	if errResp.Error.Code != CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion {
+		t.Errorf("error code = %d, want %d", errResp.Error.Code, CodeUnsupportedProtocolVersion)
+	}
+}
+
 func textContent(t *testing.T, res *CallToolResult) string {
 	t.Helper()
 	if len(res.Content) != 1 {