diff --git a/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/const.py b/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/const.py
index 3174603f08e..891e6d8be82 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/const.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/const.py
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class AdapterDetails(TypedDict, total=False):
 
     address: str
     sw_version: str
-    hw_version: str
+    hw_version: str | None
     passive_scan: bool
 
 
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/util.py b/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/util.py
index d04685f34d9..860428a6106 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/util.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/bluetooth/util.py
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ async def async_get_bluetooth_adapters() -> dict[str, AdapterDetails]:
         adapters[adapter] = AdapterDetails(
             address=adapter1["Address"],
             sw_version=adapter1["Name"],  # This is actually the BlueZ version
-            hw_version=adapter1["Modalias"],
+            hw_version=adapter1.get("Modalias"),
             passive_scan="org.bluez.AdvertisementMonitorManager1" in details,
         )
     return adapters
diff --git a/tests/components/bluetooth/conftest.py b/tests/components/bluetooth/conftest.py
index 58b6e596629..857af1e7eaa 100644
--- a/tests/components/bluetooth/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/components/bluetooth/conftest.py
@@ -97,3 +97,27 @@ def two_adapters_fixture(bluez_dbus_mock):
         },
     ):
         yield
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(name="one_adapter_old_bluez")
+def one_adapter_old_bluez(bluez_dbus_mock):
+    """Fixture that mocks two adapters on Linux."""
+    with patch(
+        "homeassistant.components.bluetooth.platform.system", return_value="Linux"
+    ), patch(
+        "homeassistant.components.bluetooth.scanner.platform.system",
+        return_value="Linux",
+    ), patch(
+        "homeassistant.components.bluetooth.util.platform.system", return_value="Linux"
+    ), patch(
+        "bluetooth_adapters.get_bluetooth_adapter_details",
+        return_value={
+            "hci0": {
+                "org.bluez.Adapter1": {
+                    "Address": "00:00:00:00:00:01",
+                    "Name": "BlueZ 4.43",
+                }
+            },
+        },
+    ):
+        yield
diff --git a/tests/components/bluetooth/test_init.py b/tests/components/bluetooth/test_init.py
index 32feb3d7b0f..a3045291286 100644
--- a/tests/components/bluetooth/test_init.py
+++ b/tests/components/bluetooth/test_init.py
@@ -116,6 +116,53 @@ async def test_setup_and_stop_passive(hass, mock_bleak_scanner_start, one_adapte
     }
 
 
+async def test_setup_and_stop_old_bluez(
+    hass, mock_bleak_scanner_start, one_adapter_old_bluez
+):
+    """Test we and setup and stop the scanner the passive scanner with older bluez."""
+    entry = MockConfigEntry(
+        domain=bluetooth.DOMAIN,
+        data={},
+        options={},
+        unique_id="00:00:00:00:00:01",
+    )
+    entry.add_to_hass(hass)
+    init_kwargs = None
+
+    class MockBleakScanner:
+        def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            """Init the scanner."""
+            nonlocal init_kwargs
+            init_kwargs = kwargs
+
+        async def start(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            """Start the scanner."""
+
+        async def stop(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            """Stop the scanner."""
+
+        def register_detection_callback(self, *args, **kwargs):
+            """Register a callback."""
+
+    with patch(
+        "homeassistant.components.bluetooth.scanner.OriginalBleakScanner",
+        MockBleakScanner,
+    ):
+        assert await async_setup_component(
+            hass, bluetooth.DOMAIN, {bluetooth.DOMAIN: {}}
+        )
+        hass.bus.async_fire(EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_STARTED)
+        await hass.async_block_till_done()
+
+        hass.bus.async_fire(EVENT_HOMEASSISTANT_STOP)
+        await hass.async_block_till_done()
+
+    assert init_kwargs == {
+        "adapter": "hci0",
+        "scanning_mode": "active",
+    }
+
+
 async def test_setup_and_stop_no_bluetooth(hass, caplog, macos_adapter):
     """Test we fail gracefully when bluetooth is not available."""
     mock_bt = [