diff --git a/etcdserver/apply.go b/etcdserver/apply.go
index b85dd50d6..0135f8bcd 100644
--- a/etcdserver/apply.go
+++ b/etcdserver/apply.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ type applyResult struct {
 type applierV3Internal interface {
 	ClusterVersionSet(r *membershippb.ClusterVersionSetRequest)
 	ClusterMemberAttrSet(r *membershippb.ClusterMemberAttrSetRequest)
+	DowngradeInfoSet(r *membershippb.DowngradeInfoSetRequest)
 }
 
 // applierV3 is the interface for processing V3 raft messages
@@ -195,6 +196,8 @@ func (a *applierV3backend) Apply(r *pb.InternalRaftRequest) *applyResult {
 		a.s.applyV3Internal.ClusterVersionSet(r.ClusterVersionSet)
 	case r.ClusterMemberAttrSet != nil:
 		a.s.applyV3Internal.ClusterMemberAttrSet(r.ClusterMemberAttrSet)
+	case r.DowngradeInfoSet != nil:
+		a.s.applyV3Internal.DowngradeInfoSet(r.DowngradeInfoSet)
 	default:
 		panic("not implemented")
 	}
@@ -882,6 +885,14 @@ func (a *applierV3backend) ClusterMemberAttrSet(r *membershippb.ClusterMemberAtt
 	)
 }
 
+func (a *applierV3backend) DowngradeInfoSet(r *membershippb.DowngradeInfoSetRequest) {
+	d := membership.DowngradeInfo{Enabled: false}
+	if r.Enabled {
+		d = membership.DowngradeInfo{Enabled: true, TargetVersion: r.Ver}
+	}
+	a.s.cluster.SetDowngradeInfo(&d)
+}
+
 type quotaApplierV3 struct {
 	applierV3
 	q Quota
diff --git a/etcdserver/cluster_util.go b/etcdserver/cluster_util.go
index 37351519c..7990a31d5 100644
--- a/etcdserver/cluster_util.go
+++ b/etcdserver/cluster_util.go
@@ -355,3 +355,22 @@ func promoteMemberHTTP(ctx context.Context, url string, id uint64, peerRt http.R
 	}
 	return membs, nil
 }
+
+func convertToClusterVersion(v string) (*semver.Version, error) {
+	ver, err := semver.NewVersion(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		// allow input version format Major.Minor
+		ver, err = semver.NewVersion(v + ".0")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, ErrWrongDowngradeVersionFormat
+		}
+	}
+	// cluster version only keeps major.minor, remove patch version
+	ver = &semver.Version{Major: ver.Major, Minor: ver.Minor}
+	return ver, nil
+}
+
+// Todo: handle the case that downgrading from higher major version(e.g. downgrade from v4.0 to v3.x)
+func allowedDowngradeVersion(ver *semver.Version) *semver.Version {
+	return &semver.Version{Major: ver.Major, Minor: ver.Minor - 1}
+}
diff --git a/etcdserver/cluster_util_test.go b/etcdserver/cluster_util_test.go
index de90d6039..04b9925ff 100644
--- a/etcdserver/cluster_util_test.go
+++ b/etcdserver/cluster_util_test.go
@@ -133,3 +133,46 @@ func TestIsCompatibleWithVers(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestConvertToClusterVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		inputVerStr string
+		expectedVer string
+		hasError    bool
+	}{
+		{
+			"Succeeded: Major.Minor.Patch",
+			"3.4.2",
+			"3.4.0",
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"Succeeded: Major.Minor",
+			"3.4",
+			"3.4.0",
+			false,
+		},
+		{
+			"Failed: wrong version format",
+			"3*.9",
+			"",
+			true,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ver, err := convertToClusterVersion(tt.inputVerStr)
+			hasError := err != nil
+			if hasError != tt.hasError {
+				t.Errorf("Expected error status is %v; Got %v", tt.hasError, err)
+			}
+			if tt.hasError {
+				return
+			}
+			if ver == nil || tt.expectedVer != ver.String() {
+				t.Errorf("Expected output cluster version is %v; Got %v", tt.expectedVer, ver)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/etcdserver/v3_server.go b/etcdserver/v3_server.go
index 75df7c481..92d8fb534 100644
--- a/etcdserver/v3_server.go
+++ b/etcdserver/v3_server.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/auth"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/etcdserver/api/membership"
+	"go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/etcdserver/api/membership/membershippb"
 	pb "go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/etcdserver/etcdserverpb"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/lease"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/v3/lease/leasehttp"
@@ -806,5 +807,93 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) AuthInfoFromCtx(ctx context.Context) (*auth.AuthInfo, error
 }
 
 func (s *EtcdServer) Downgrade(ctx context.Context, r *pb.DowngradeRequest) (*pb.DowngradeResponse, error) {
-	return nil, nil
+	switch r.Action {
+	case pb.DowngradeRequest_VALIDATE:
+		return s.downgradeValidate(ctx, r.Version)
+	case pb.DowngradeRequest_ENABLE:
+		return s.downgradeEnable(ctx, r)
+	case pb.DowngradeRequest_CANCEL:
+		return s.downgradeCancel(ctx)
+	default:
+		return nil, ErrUnknownMethod
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *EtcdServer) downgradeValidate(ctx context.Context, v string) (*pb.DowngradeResponse, error) {
+	resp := &pb.DowngradeResponse{}
+
+	targetVersion, err := convertToClusterVersion(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	// gets leaders commit index and wait for local store to finish applying that index
+	// to avoid using stale downgrade information
+	err = s.linearizableReadNotify(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	cv := s.ClusterVersion()
+	if cv == nil {
+		return nil, ErrClusterVersionUnavailable
+	}
+	resp.Version = cv.String()
+
+	allowedTargetVersion := allowedDowngradeVersion(cv)
+	if !targetVersion.Equal(*allowedTargetVersion) {
+		return nil, ErrInvalidDowngradeTargetVersion
+	}
+
+	downgradeInfo := s.cluster.DowngradeInfo()
+	if downgradeInfo.Enabled {
+		// Todo: return the downgrade status along with the error msg
+		return nil, ErrDowngradeInProcess
+	}
+	return resp, nil
+}
+
+func (s *EtcdServer) downgradeEnable(ctx context.Context, r *pb.DowngradeRequest) (*pb.DowngradeResponse, error) {
+	// validate downgrade capability before starting downgrade
+	v := r.Version
+	lg := s.getLogger()
+	if resp, err := s.downgradeValidate(ctx, v); err != nil {
+		lg.Warn("reject downgrade request", zap.Error(err))
+		return resp, err
+	}
+	targetVersion, err := convertToClusterVersion(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		lg.Warn("reject downgrade request", zap.Error(err))
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	raftRequest := membershippb.DowngradeInfoSetRequest{Enabled: true, Ver: targetVersion.String()}
+	_, err = s.raftRequest(ctx, pb.InternalRaftRequest{DowngradeInfoSet: &raftRequest})
+	if err != nil {
+		lg.Warn("reject downgrade request", zap.Error(err))
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	resp := pb.DowngradeResponse{Version: s.ClusterVersion().String()}
+	return &resp, nil
+}
+
+func (s *EtcdServer) downgradeCancel(ctx context.Context) (*pb.DowngradeResponse, error) {
+	// gets leaders commit index and wait for local store to finish applying that index
+	// to avoid using stale downgrade information
+	if err := s.linearizableReadNotify(ctx); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	downgradeInfo := s.cluster.DowngradeInfo()
+	if !downgradeInfo.Enabled {
+		return nil, ErrNoInflightDowngrade
+	}
+
+	raftRequest := membershippb.DowngradeInfoSetRequest{Enabled: false}
+	_, err := s.raftRequest(ctx, pb.InternalRaftRequest{DowngradeInfoSet: &raftRequest})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	resp := pb.DowngradeResponse{Version: s.ClusterVersion().String()}
+	return &resp, nil
 }