diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotestore/WritableWarmIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotestore/WritableWarmIT.java
index a51bd6b20fff0..88c9ae436e85f 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotestore/WritableWarmIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/remotestore/WritableWarmIT.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.SettingsException;
 import org.opensearch.common.util.FeatureFlags;
+import org.opensearch.core.common.unit.ByteSizeUnit;
+import org.opensearch.core.common.unit.ByteSizeValue;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexModule;
 import org.opensearch.index.query.QueryBuilders;
 import org.opensearch.index.shard.IndexShard;
@@ -65,11 +67,20 @@ protected Settings featureFlagSettings() {
         return featureSettings.build();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    protected Settings nodeSettings(int nodeOrdinal) {
+        ByteSizeValue cacheSize = new ByteSizeValue(16, ByteSizeUnit.GB);
+        return Settings.builder()
+            .put(super.nodeSettings(nodeOrdinal))
+            .put(Node.NODE_SEARCH_CACHE_SIZE_SETTING.getKey(), cacheSize.toString())
+            .build();
+    }
+
     public void testWritableWarmFeatureFlagDisabled() {
         Settings clusterSettings = Settings.builder().put(super.nodeSettings(0)).put(FeatureFlags.TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX, false).build();
         InternalTestCluster internalTestCluster = internalCluster();
         internalTestCluster.startClusterManagerOnlyNode(clusterSettings);
-        internalTestCluster.startDataOnlyNode(clusterSettings);
+        internalTestCluster.startDataAndSearchNodes(1);
 
         Settings indexSettings = Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
@@ -94,7 +105,7 @@ public void testWritableWarmFeatureFlagDisabled() {
     public void testWritableWarmBasic() throws Exception {
         InternalTestCluster internalTestCluster = internalCluster();
         internalTestCluster.startClusterManagerOnlyNode();
-        internalTestCluster.startDataOnlyNode();
+        internalTestCluster.startDataAndSearchNodes(1);
         Settings settings = Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
             .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/snapshots/SearchableSnapshotIT.java b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/snapshots/SearchableSnapshotIT.java
index 1c199df4d548e..a19bbe49ad340 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/snapshots/SearchableSnapshotIT.java
+++ b/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/snapshots/SearchableSnapshotIT.java
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@
 import java.util.stream.StreamSupport;
 
 import static org.opensearch.action.admin.cluster.node.stats.NodesStatsRequest.Metric.FS;
-import static org.opensearch.common.util.FeatureFlags.TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX;
 import static org.opensearch.core.common.util.CollectionUtils.iterableAsArrayList;
 import static org.opensearch.index.store.remote.filecache.FileCacheSettings.DATA_TO_FILE_CACHE_SIZE_RATIO_SETTING;
 import static org.opensearch.test.NodeRoles.clusterManagerOnlyNode;
@@ -1019,11 +1018,12 @@ public void testStartSearchNode() throws Exception {
         internalCluster().startNode(Settings.builder().put(onlyRole(DiscoveryNodeRole.SEARCH_ROLE)));
         // test start node without search role
         internalCluster().startNode(Settings.builder().put(onlyRole(DiscoveryNodeRole.DATA_ROLE)));
-        // test start non-dedicated search node with TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX feature enabled
-        internalCluster().startNode(
-            Settings.builder()
-                .put(onlyRoles(Set.of(DiscoveryNodeRole.SEARCH_ROLE, DiscoveryNodeRole.DATA_ROLE)))
-                .put(TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX, true)
+        // test start non-dedicated search node, if the user doesn't configure the cache size, it fails
+        assertThrows(
+            SettingsException.class,
+            () -> internalCluster().startNode(
+                Settings.builder().put(onlyRoles(Set.of(DiscoveryNodeRole.SEARCH_ROLE, DiscoveryNodeRole.DATA_ROLE)))
+            )
         );
         // test start non-dedicated search node
         assertThrows(
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/node/Node.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/node/Node.java
index 8684b1b383cab..cbed8dfea8cc4 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/node/Node.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/node/Node.java
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ public class Node implements Closeable {
 
     public static final Setting<String> NODE_SEARCH_CACHE_SIZE_SETTING = new Setting<>(
         "node.search.cache.size",
-        s -> (FeatureFlags.isEnabled(FeatureFlags.TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX_SETTING) || DiscoveryNode.isDedicatedSearchNode(s)) ? "80%" : ZERO,
+        s -> (DiscoveryNode.isDedicatedSearchNode(s)) ? "80%" : ZERO,
         Node::validateFileCacheSize,
         Property.NodeScope
     );
@@ -2037,8 +2037,7 @@ DiscoveryNode getNode() {
      * Else it configures the size to 80% of total capacity for a dedicated search node, if not explicitly defined.
      */
     private void initializeFileCache(Settings settings, CircuitBreaker circuitBreaker) throws IOException {
-        boolean isWritableRemoteIndexEnabled = FeatureFlags.isEnabled(FeatureFlags.TIERED_REMOTE_INDEX_SETTING);
-        if (DiscoveryNode.isSearchNode(settings) == false && isWritableRemoteIndexEnabled == false) {
+        if (DiscoveryNode.isSearchNode(settings) == false) {
             return;
         }