diff --git a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/xcontent/XContentType.java b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/xcontent/XContentType.java
index 4611ee58d001b..02ae4d0a7f46d 100644
--- a/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/xcontent/XContentType.java
+++ b/libs/x-content/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/xcontent/XContentType.java
@@ -35,13 +35,11 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.cbor.CBORConstants;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.smile.SmileConstants;
 
-import org.opensearch.Version;
 import org.opensearch.common.annotation.PublicApi;
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.cbor.CborXContent;
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.json.JsonXContent;
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.smile.SmileXContent;
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.yaml.YamlXContent;
-import org.opensearch.core.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.MediaType;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContent;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
@@ -239,7 +237,7 @@ public XContentBuilder contentBuilder(final OutputStream os) throws IOException
         }
     };
 
-    private int index;
+    private final int index;
 
     XContentType(int index) {
         this.index = index;
@@ -259,15 +257,6 @@ public String format() {
         return subtype();
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public void writeTo(StreamOutput output) throws IOException {
-        if (output.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_3_0_0)) {
-            output.writeVInt(uniqueId());
-        } else {
-            output.writeString(this.mediaType());
-        }
-    }
-
     @Override
     public int uniqueId() {
         return this.ordinal();