diff --git a/libpod/define/container_inspect.go b/libpod/define/container_inspect.go
index 4a06734ec6..240b09d21d 100644
--- a/libpod/define/container_inspect.go
+++ b/libpod/define/container_inspect.go
@@ -89,6 +89,10 @@ type InspectContainerConfig struct {
 	SdNotifyMode string `json:"sdNotifyMode,omitempty"`
 	// SdNotifySocket is the NOTIFY_SOCKET in use by/configured for the container.
 	SdNotifySocket string `json:"sdNotifySocket,omitempty"`
+
+	// V4PodmanCompatMarshal indicates that the json marshaller should
+	// use the old v4 inspect format to keep API compatibility.
+	V4PodmanCompatMarshal bool `json:"-"`
 }
 
 // UnmarshalJSON allow compatibility with podman V4 API
@@ -136,6 +140,28 @@ func (insp *InspectContainerConfig) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (insp *InspectContainerConfig) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
+	// the alias is needed otherwise MarshalJSON will
+	type Alias InspectContainerConfig
+	conf := (*Alias)(insp)
+	if !insp.V4PodmanCompatMarshal {
+		return json.Marshal(conf)
+	}
+
+	type v4InspectContainerConfig struct {
+		Entrypoint string `json:"Entrypoint"`
+		StopSignal uint   `json:"StopSignal"`
+		*Alias
+	}
+	stopSignal, _ := signal.ParseSignal(insp.StopSignal)
+	newConf := &v4InspectContainerConfig{
+		Entrypoint: strings.Join(insp.Entrypoint, " "),
+		StopSignal: uint(stopSignal),
+		Alias:      conf,
+	}
+	return json.Marshal(newConf)
+}
+
 // InspectRestartPolicy holds information about the container's restart policy.
 type InspectRestartPolicy struct {
 	// Name contains the container's restart policy.
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/containers.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/containers.go
index 6d0f839f04..0dabd649bb 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/containers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/containers.go
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@ func GetContainer(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		utils.InternalServerError(w, err)
 		return
 	}
+	// if client request old v4 payload we should return v4 compatible json
+	if _, err := utils.SupportedVersion(r, ">=5.0.0"); err != nil {
+		data.Config.V4PodmanCompatMarshal = true
+	}
+
 	utils.WriteResponse(w, http.StatusOK, data)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/apiv2/25-containersMore.at b/test/apiv2/25-containersMore.at
index d9c9fa0160..802997377d 100644
--- a/test/apiv2/25-containersMore.at
+++ b/test/apiv2/25-containersMore.at
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ podman pull $IMAGE &>/dev/null
 # Ensure clean slate
 podman rm -a -f &>/dev/null
 
-podman run -d --name foo $IMAGE top
+podman run -d --name foo --entrypoint='["sh","-c"]' $IMAGE top
 
 # Check exists for none such
 t GET libpod/containers/nonesuch/exists 404
@@ -44,7 +44,15 @@ t GET libpod/containers/foo/json 200 \
   .State.Status=running \
   .ImageName=$IMAGE \
   .Config.Cmd[0]=top \
-  .Name=foo
+  .Name=foo \
+  .Config.StopSignal="SIGTERM" \
+  .Config.Entrypoint[0]="sh" \
+  .Config.Entrypoint[1]="-c"
+
+# now check v4 request return old compatible output
+t GET /v4.0.0/libpod/containers/foo/json 200 \
+  .Config.StopSignal=15 \
+  .Config.Entrypoint="sh -c"
 
 # List processes of the container
 t GET libpod/containers/foo/top 200 \
diff --git a/test/apiv2/test-apiv2 b/test/apiv2/test-apiv2
index 55490975b9..14227ea8fe 100755
--- a/test/apiv2/test-apiv2
+++ b/test/apiv2/test-apiv2
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ function t() {
         url=http://$HOST:$PORT
         case "$path" in
         /*) url="$url$path" ;;
-        libpod/*) url="$url/v4.0.0/$path" ;;
+        libpod/*) url="$url/v5.0.0/$path" ;;
         *)  url="$url/v1.41/$path" ;;
         esac
     fi