diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
index 6456564a8e1..64b083328ba 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/TransformIndexer.java
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ public abstract class TransformIndexer extends AsyncTwoPhaseIndexer<TransformInd
         // create the function
         function = FunctionFactory.create(getConfig());
 
-        if (isContinuous() && function.supportsIncrementalBucketUpdate()) {
+        if (isContinuous()) {
             changeCollector = function.buildChangeCollector(getConfig().getSyncConfig().getField());
         }
     }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/CompositeBucketsChangeCollector.java b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/CompositeBucketsChangeCollector.java
index 10a7f0432dc..7c8c7717646 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/CompositeBucketsChangeCollector.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/CompositeBucketsChangeCollector.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package org.elasticsearch.xpack.transform.transforms.pivot;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.search.SearchResponse;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.Rounding;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.geo.GeoPoint;
 import org.elasticsearch.geometry.Rectangle;
@@ -286,14 +287,16 @@ public class CompositeBucketsChangeCollector implements ChangeCollector {
         }
     }
 
-    public CompositeBucketsChangeCollector(CompositeAggregationBuilder compositeAggregation, Map<String, FieldCollector> fieldCollectors) {
+    public CompositeBucketsChangeCollector(
+        @Nullable CompositeAggregationBuilder compositeAggregation,
+        Map<String, FieldCollector> fieldCollectors
+    ) {
         this.compositeAggregation = compositeAggregation;
         this.fieldCollectors = fieldCollectors;
     }
 
     @Override
     public SearchSourceBuilder buildChangesQuery(SearchSourceBuilder sourceBuilder, Map<String, Object> position, int pageSize) {
-
         sourceBuilder.size(0);
         for (FieldCollector fieldCollector : fieldCollectors.values()) {
             AggregationBuilder aggregationForField = fieldCollector.aggregateChanges();
@@ -304,9 +307,11 @@ public class CompositeBucketsChangeCollector implements ChangeCollector {
             pageSize = Math.min(pageSize, fieldCollector.getMaxPageSize());
         }
 
-        CompositeAggregationBuilder changesAgg = this.compositeAggregation;
-        changesAgg.size(pageSize).aggregateAfter(position);
-        sourceBuilder.aggregation(changesAgg);
+        if (compositeAggregation != null) {
+            CompositeAggregationBuilder changesAgg = compositeAggregation;
+            changesAgg.size(pageSize).aggregateAfter(position);
+            sourceBuilder.aggregation(changesAgg);
+        }
 
         return sourceBuilder;
     }
@@ -364,7 +369,7 @@ public class CompositeBucketsChangeCollector implements ChangeCollector {
     }
 
     public static ChangeCollector buildChangeCollector(
-        CompositeAggregationBuilder compositeAggregationBuilder,
+        @Nullable CompositeAggregationBuilder compositeAggregationBuilder,
         Map<String, SingleGroupSource> groups,
         String synchronizationField
     ) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/Pivot.java b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/Pivot.java
index 54afac5ea0f..58c16fcd964 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/Pivot.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/transform/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/transform/transforms/pivot/Pivot.java
@@ -215,8 +215,15 @@ public class Pivot implements Function {
 
     @Override
     public ChangeCollector buildChangeCollector(String synchronizationField) {
+        CompositeAggregationBuilder aggregationBuilder = null;
+
+        // skip if none of the group_by's requires it
+        if (supportsIncrementalBucketUpdate()) {
+            aggregationBuilder = createCompositeAggregationSources(config, true);
+        }
+
         return CompositeBucketsChangeCollector.buildChangeCollector(
-            createCompositeAggregationSources(config, true),
+            aggregationBuilder,
             config.getGroupConfig().getGroups(),
             synchronizationField
         );