diff --git a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/ProducerConfig.java b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/ProducerConfig.java
index 9a5889210c7..647fc77db67 100644
--- a/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/ProducerConfig.java
+++ b/clients/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/ProducerConfig.java
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ public class ProducerConfig extends AbstractConfig {
                                         Type.STRING,
                                         "all",
                                         in("all", "-1", "0", "1"),
-                                        Importance.HIGH,
+                                        Importance.LOW,
                                         ACKS_DOC)
                                 .define(COMPRESSION_TYPE_CONFIG, Type.STRING, "none", Importance.HIGH, COMPRESSION_TYPE_DOC)
                                 .define(BATCH_SIZE_CONFIG, Type.INT, 16384, atLeast(0), Importance.MEDIUM, BATCH_SIZE_DOC)
diff --git a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/KafkaProducerTest.java b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/KafkaProducerTest.java
index f055e12c231..2784f19c025 100644
--- a/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/KafkaProducerTest.java
+++ b/clients/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/clients/producer/KafkaProducerTest.java
@@ -172,6 +172,89 @@ public class KafkaProducerTest {
                 config.getString(ProducerConfig.TRANSACTIONAL_ID_CONFIG)));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testAcksAndIdempotenceForIdempotentProducers() {
+        Properties baseProps = new Properties() {{
+                setProperty(
+                    ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, "localhost:9999");
+                setProperty(
+                    ProducerConfig.KEY_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, StringSerializer.class.getName());
+                setProperty(
+                    ProducerConfig.VALUE_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, StringSerializer.class.getName());
+            }};
+
+        Properties validProps = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG, "0");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG, "false");
+            }};
+        ProducerConfig config = new ProducerConfig(validProps);
+        assertFalse(
+            config.getBoolean(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG),
+            "idempotence should be overwritten");
+        assertEquals(
+            "0",
+            config.getString(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG),
+            "acks should be overwritten");
+
+        Properties validProps2 = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.TRANSACTIONAL_ID_CONFIG, "transactionalId");
+            }};
+        config = new ProducerConfig(validProps2);
+        assertTrue(
+            config.getBoolean(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG),
+            "idempotence should be set with the default value");
+        assertEquals(
+            "-1",
+            config.getString(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG),
+            "acks should be set with the default value");
+
+        Properties validProps3 = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG, "all");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG, "false");
+            }};
+        config = new ProducerConfig(validProps3);
+        assertFalse(config.getBoolean(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG),
+            "idempotence should be overwritten");
+        assertEquals(
+            "-1",
+            config.getString(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG),
+            "acks should be overwritten");
+
+        Properties invalidProps = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG, "0");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG, "false");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.TRANSACTIONAL_ID_CONFIG, "transactionalId");
+            }};
+        assertThrows(
+            ConfigException.class,
+            () -> new ProducerConfig(invalidProps),
+            "Cannot set a transactional.id without also enabling idempotence");
+
+        Properties invalidProps2 = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG, "1");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG, "true");
+            }};
+        assertThrows(
+            ConfigException.class,
+            () -> new ProducerConfig(invalidProps2),
+            "Must set acks to all in order to use the idempotent producer");
+
+        Properties invalidProps3 = new Properties() {{
+                putAll(baseProps);
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ACKS_CONFIG, "0");
+                setProperty(ProducerConfig.ENABLE_IDEMPOTENCE_CONFIG, "true");
+            }};
+        assertThrows(
+            ConfigException.class,
+            () -> new ProducerConfig(invalidProps3),
+            "Must set acks to all in order to use the idempotent producer");
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testMetricsReporterAutoGeneratedClientId() {
         Properties props = new Properties();
diff --git a/tests/kafkatest/sanity_checks/test_verifiable_producer.py b/tests/kafkatest/sanity_checks/test_verifiable_producer.py
index 55a928f7644..1aa21099521 100644
--- a/tests/kafkatest/sanity_checks/test_verifiable_producer.py
+++ b/tests/kafkatest/sanity_checks/test_verifiable_producer.py
@@ -49,12 +49,14 @@ class TestVerifiableProducer(Test):
     @parametrize(producer_version=str(LATEST_0_9))
     @parametrize(producer_version=str(LATEST_0_10_0))
     @parametrize(producer_version=str(LATEST_0_10_1))
+    @matrix(producer_version=[str(DEV_BRANCH)], acks=["0", "1", "-1"], enable_idempotence=[False])
+    @matrix(producer_version=[str(DEV_BRANCH)], acks=["-1"], enable_idempotence=[True])
     @matrix(producer_version=[str(DEV_BRANCH)], security_protocol=['PLAINTEXT', 'SSL'], metadata_quorum=quorum.all)
     @cluster(num_nodes=4)
     @matrix(producer_version=[str(DEV_BRANCH)], security_protocol=['SASL_SSL'], sasl_mechanism=['PLAIN', 'GSSAPI'],
             metadata_quorum=quorum.all)
-    def test_simple_run(self, producer_version, security_protocol = 'PLAINTEXT', sasl_mechanism='PLAIN',
-                        metadata_quorum=quorum.zk):
+    def test_simple_run(self, producer_version, acks=None, enable_idempotence=False, security_protocol = 'PLAINTEXT',
+                        sasl_mechanism='PLAIN', metadata_quorum=quorum.zk):
         """
         Test that we can start VerifiableProducer on the current branch snapshot version or against the 0.8.2 jar, and
         verify that we can produce a small number of messages.
@@ -72,6 +74,8 @@ class TestVerifiableProducer(Test):
         self.kafka.start()
 
         node = self.producer.nodes[0]
+        self.producer.enable_idempotence = enable_idempotence
+        self.producer.acks = acks
         node.version = KafkaVersion(producer_version)
         self.producer.start()
         wait_until(lambda: self.producer.num_acked > 5, timeout_sec=15,