diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index 4ccc2eb79..4f060387b 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 defaults:
   actions:
     # mergify.io has removed bot_account from its free open source plan.
-    comment:
+    # comment:
     # bot_account: ceph-csi-bot # mergify[bot] will be commenting.
     queue:
       # merge_bot_account: ceph-csi-bot #mergify[bot] will be merging prs.
diff --git a/build.env b/build.env
index 63948df68..33702ed19 100644
--- a/build.env
+++ b/build.env
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ SNAPSHOT_VERSION=v6.0.1
 HELM_VERSION=v3.9.0
 
 # minikube settings
-MINIKUBE_VERSION=v1.26.0
+MINIKUBE_VERSION=v1.26.1
 VM_DRIVER=none
 CHANGE_MINIKUBE_NONE_USER=true
 
diff --git a/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver.go b/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver.go
index e93887686..7393c2fdd 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver.go
@@ -856,12 +856,13 @@ func checkVolumeResyncStatus(localStatus librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus) error {
 
 	// If the state is Replaying means the resync is going on.
 	// Once the volume on remote cluster is demoted and resync
-	// is completed the image state will be moved to UNKNOWN .
-	if localStatus.State != librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateReplaying &&
-		localStatus.State != librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateUnknown {
+	// is completed the image state will be moved to UNKNOWN.
+	// RBD mirror daemon should be always running on the primary cluster.
+	if !localStatus.Up || (localStatus.State != librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateReplaying &&
+		localStatus.State != librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateUnknown) {
 		return fmt.Errorf(
-			"not resyncing. image is in %q state",
-			localStatus.State)
+			"not resyncing. Local status: daemon up=%t image is in %q state",
+			localStatus.Up, localStatus.State)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver_test.go b/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver_test.go
index 401292587..e10d35249 100644
--- a/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver_test.go
+++ b/internal/rbd/replicationcontrollerserver_test.go
@@ -212,10 +212,19 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 		args    librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus
 		wantErr bool
 	}{
+		{
+			name: "test when rbd mirror daemon is not running",
+			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
+				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateUnknown,
+				Up:    false,
+			},
+			wantErr: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "test for unknown state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateUnknown,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
@@ -223,6 +232,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for error state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateError,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -230,6 +240,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for syncing state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateSyncing,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -237,6 +248,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for starting_replay state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateStartingReplay,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -244,6 +256,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for replaying state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateReplaying,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
@@ -251,6 +264,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for stopping_replay state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateStoppingReplay,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -258,6 +272,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for stopped state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusStateStopped,
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -265,6 +280,7 @@ func TestCheckVolumeResyncStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			name: "test for invalid state",
 			args: librbd.SiteMirrorImageStatus{
 				State: librbd.MirrorImageStatusState(100),
+				Up:    true,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
diff --git a/scripts/install-snapshot.sh b/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
index 8ba636608..f6b6d35cf 100755
--- a/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-snapshot.sh
@@ -84,30 +84,6 @@ function delete_snapshot_crd() {
     kubectl delete -f "${VOLUME_SNAPSHOT}" --ignore-not-found
 }
 
-# parse the kubernetes version
-# v1.17.2 -> kube_version 1 -> 1  (Major)
-# v1.17.2 -> kube_version 2 -> 17 (Minor)
-function kube_version() {
-    echo "${KUBE_VERSION}" | sed 's/^v//' | cut -d'.' -f"${1}"
-}
-
-if ! get_kube_version=$(kubectl version --short) ||
-   [[ -z "${get_kube_version}" ]]; then
-    echo "could not get Kubernetes server version"
-    echo "hint: check if you have specified the right host or port"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-KUBE_VERSION=$(echo "${get_kube_version}" | grep "^Server Version" | cut -d' ' -f3)
-KUBE_MAJOR=$(kube_version 1)
-KUBE_MINOR=$(kube_version 2)
-
-# skip snapshot operation if kube version is less than 1.17.0
-if [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -lt 1 ]] || [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -eq 1  &&  "${KUBE_MINOR}" -lt 17 ]]; then
-    echo "skipping: Kubernetes server version is < 1.17.0"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
 case "${1:-}" in
 install)
     install_snapshot_controller "$2"
@@ -115,13 +91,9 @@ install)
 cleanup)
     cleanup_snapshot_controller "$2"
     ;;
-delete-crd)
-    delete_snapshot_crd
-    ;;
 *)
     echo "usage:" >&2
     echo "  $0 install" >&2
     echo "  $0 cleanup" >&2
-    echo "  $0 delete-crd" >&2
     ;;
 esac
diff --git a/scripts/travis-functest.sh b/scripts/travis-functest.sh
index 44649acab..d86c80de9 100755
--- a/scripts/travis-functest.sh
+++ b/scripts/travis-functest.sh
@@ -27,21 +27,12 @@ sudo scripts/minikube.sh create-block-pool
 # pull docker images to speed up e2e
 sudo scripts/minikube.sh cephcsi
 sudo scripts/minikube.sh k8s-sidecar
-KUBE_MAJOR=$(kube_version 1)
-KUBE_MINOR=$(kube_version 2)
-# skip snapshot operation if kube version is less than 1.17.0
-if [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -ge 1 ]] && [[ "${KUBE_MINOR}" -ge 17 ]]; then
-    # delete snapshot CRD created by ceph-csi in rook
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh delete-crd
-    # install snapshot controller
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh install
-fi
+# install snapshot controller and create snapshot CRD
+scripts/install-snapshot.sh install
 
 # functional tests
 make run-e2e E2E_ARGS="${*}"
 
-if [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -ge 1 ]] && [[ "${KUBE_MINOR}" -ge 17 ]]; then
-    # delete snapshot CRD
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh cleanup
-fi
+# cleanup
+scripts/install-snapshot.sh cleanup
 sudo scripts/minikube.sh clean
diff --git a/scripts/travis-helmtest.sh b/scripts/travis-helmtest.sh
index c1cb7b24c..e602152c9 100755
--- a/scripts/travis-helmtest.sh
+++ b/scripts/travis-helmtest.sh
@@ -35,15 +35,8 @@ sudo scripts/minikube.sh k8s-sidecar
 NAMESPACE=cephcsi-e2e-$RANDOM
 # create ns for e2e
 kubectl create ns ${NAMESPACE}
-KUBE_MAJOR=$(kube_version 1)
-KUBE_MINOR=$(kube_version 2)
-# skip snapshot operation if kube version is less than 1.17.0
-if [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -ge 1 ]] && [[ "${KUBE_MINOR}" -ge 17 ]]; then
-    # delete snapshot CRD created by ceph-csi in rook
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh delete-crd
-    # install snapshot controller
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh install
-fi
+# install snapshot controller and create snapshot CRD
+scripts/install-snapshot.sh install
 # set up helm
 scripts/install-helm.sh up
 # install cephcsi helm charts
@@ -51,12 +44,8 @@ scripts/install-helm.sh install-cephcsi --namespace ${NAMESPACE}
 # functional tests
 make run-e2e NAMESPACE="${NAMESPACE}" E2E_ARGS="--deploy-cephfs=false --deploy-rbd=false ${*}"
 
-#cleanup
-# skip snapshot operation if kube version is less than 1.17.0
-if [[ "${KUBE_MAJOR}" -ge 1 ]] && [[ "${KUBE_MINOR}" -ge 17 ]]; then
-    # delete snapshot CRD
-    scripts/install-snapshot.sh cleanup
-fi
+# cleanup
+scripts/install-snapshot.sh cleanup
 scripts/install-helm.sh cleanup-cephcsi --namespace ${NAMESPACE}
 scripts/install-helm.sh clean
 kubectl delete ns ${NAMESPACE}