diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 0790046f..e53401b7 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ description = 'Spring Data GemFire'
 group = 'org.springframework.data'
 
 repositories {
+  maven { url "http://repo.spring.io/gemstone-release-cache" }
   //maven { url "http://nexus.gemstone.com:8081/nexus/content/repositories/snapshots" }
-  maven { url "http://dist.gemstone.com.s3.amazonaws.com/maven/release"}
+  maven { url "http://dist.gemstone.com/maven/release"}
   maven { url "http://repo.spring.io/gemstone-snapshot-cache" }
   maven { url "http://repo.spring.io/libs-snapshot" }
   maven { url "http://repo.spring.io/plugins-release"}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/CacheFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/CacheFactoryBean.java
index d2909afe..afc1811a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/CacheFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/CacheFactoryBean.java
@@ -909,10 +909,12 @@ public class CacheFactoryBean implements BeanClassLoaderAware, BeanFactoryAware,
 	}
 
 	protected void postProcessPropertiesBeforeInitialization(Properties gemfireProperties) {
-		gemfireProperties.setProperty("disable-auto-reconnect", String.valueOf(
-			!Boolean.TRUE.equals(getEnableAutoReconnect())));
-		gemfireProperties.setProperty("use-cluster-configuration", String.valueOf(
-			Boolean.TRUE.equals(getUseClusterConfiguration())));
+		if (GemfireUtils.isGemfireVersion8OrAbove()) {
+			gemfireProperties.setProperty("disable-auto-reconnect", String.valueOf(
+				!Boolean.TRUE.equals(getEnableAutoReconnect())));
+			gemfireProperties.setProperty("use-cluster-configuration", String.valueOf(
+				Boolean.TRUE.equals(getUseClusterConfiguration())));
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* (non-Javadoc)
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/GemfireUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/GemfireUtils.java
index 01e2b2a0..28988444 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/GemfireUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/GemfireUtils.java
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ public abstract class GemfireUtils {
 
 	public final static String GEMFIRE_VERSION = CacheFactory.getVersion();
 
+	public static boolean isGemfireVersionGreaterThanEqual(double expectedVersion) {
+		double actualVersion = Double.parseDouble(GEMFIRE_VERSION.substring(0, 3));
+		return actualVersion >= expectedVersion;
+	}
+
 	public static boolean isGemfireVersion65OrAbove() {
 		// expected 'major.minor'
 		try {
@@ -48,15 +53,25 @@ public abstract class GemfireUtils {
 
 	public static boolean isGemfireVersion7OrAbove() {
 		try {
-			int version = Integer.parseInt(GEMFIRE_VERSION.substring(0, 1));
-			return version >= 7;
+			return isGemfireVersionGreaterThanEqual(7.0);
 		}
 		catch (NumberFormatException e) {
 			// NOTE the com.gemstone.gemfire.distributed.ServerLauncher class only exists in GemFire v 7.0.x or above...
 			return ClassUtils.isPresent("com.gemstone.gemfire.distributed.ServerLauncher",
 				Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader());
 		}
+	}
 
+	public static boolean isGemfireVersion8OrAbove() {
+		try {
+			return isGemfireVersionGreaterThanEqual(8.0);
+		}
+		catch (NumberFormatException e) {
+			// NOTE the com.gemstone.gemfire.management.internal.web.domain.LinkIndex class only exists
+			// in GemFire v 8.0.0 or above...
+			return ClassUtils.isPresent("com.gemstone.gemfire.management.internal.web.domain.LinkIndex",
+				Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader());
+		}
 	}
 
 	public static void main(final String... args) {