diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/ServiceUtils.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/ServiceUtils.java
index 4b5ec48f99b74..6d4b6d35323fd 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/ServiceUtils.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/services/ServiceUtils.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 import static org.elasticsearch.core.Strings.format;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.services.ServiceFields.SIMILARITY;
 
-public class ServiceUtils {
+public final class ServiceUtils {
     /**
      * Remove the object from the map and cast to the expected type.
      * If the object cannot be cast to type an ElasticsearchStatusException
@@ -624,4 +624,6 @@ public static SecureString apiKey(@Nullable ApiKeySecrets secrets) {
         // To avoid a possible null pointer throughout the code we'll create a noop api key of an empty array
         return secrets == null ? new SecureString(new char[0]) : secrets.apiKey();
     }
+
+    private ServiceUtils() {}
 }