diff --git a/packages/grpc-js-xds/scripts/xds.sh b/packages/grpc-js-xds/scripts/xds.sh
index dc9a0244..85124cdc 100755
--- a/packages/grpc-js-xds/scripts/xds.sh
+++ b/packages/grpc-js-xds/scripts/xds.sh
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.4/install.sh | b
 # Load NVM
 . $NVM_DIR/nvm.sh
 
-nvm install 18
+nvm install 16
 
 set -exu -o pipefail
 [[ -f /VERSION ]] && cat /VERSION