diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/FieldSortBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/FieldSortBuilder.java
index 4f082b057da..67ceb75a29c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/FieldSortBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/FieldSortBuilder.java
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ public class FieldSortBuilder extends SortBuilder {
      * Sets the value when a field is missing in a doc. Can also be set to <tt>_last</tt> or
      * <tt>_first</tt> to sort missing last or first respectively.
      */
-    @Override
     public FieldSortBuilder missing(Object missing) {
         this.missing = missing;
         return this;
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/GeoDistanceSortBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/GeoDistanceSortBuilder.java
index e37eed61c6d..708152af1f0 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/GeoDistanceSortBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/GeoDistanceSortBuilder.java
@@ -218,16 +218,6 @@ public class GeoDistanceSortBuilder extends SortBuilder
         return this.order;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Not relevant.
-     *
-     * TODO should this throw an exception rather than silently ignore a parameter that is not used?
-     */
-    @Override
-    public GeoDistanceSortBuilder missing(Object missing) {
-        return this;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Defines which distance to use for sorting in the case a document contains multiple geo points.
      * Possible values: min and max
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScoreSortBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScoreSortBuilder.java
index 7435ff95f45..e70a34a7c3b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScoreSortBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScoreSortBuilder.java
@@ -41,11 +41,6 @@ public class ScoreSortBuilder extends SortBuilder {
         return this;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public SortBuilder missing(Object missing) {
-        return this;
-    }
-
     @Override
     public XContentBuilder toXContent(XContentBuilder builder, Params params) throws IOException {
         builder.startObject("_score");
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScriptSortBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScriptSortBuilder.java
index e9a9c8df57c..d02e4dc520a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScriptSortBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/ScriptSortBuilder.java
@@ -62,14 +62,6 @@ public class ScriptSortBuilder extends SortBuilder {
         return this;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Not really relevant.
-     */
-    @Override
-    public SortBuilder missing(Object missing) {
-        return this;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Defines which distance to use for sorting in the case a document contains multiple geo points.
      * Possible values: min and max
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/SortBuilder.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/SortBuilder.java
index da80506dde2..0935b76ece9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/SortBuilder.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/sort/SortBuilder.java
@@ -45,10 +45,4 @@ public abstract class SortBuilder implements ToXContent {
      * The order of sorting. Defaults to {@link SortOrder#ASC}.
      */
     public abstract SortBuilder order(SortOrder order);
-
-    /**
-     * Sets the value when a field is missing in a doc. Can also be set to <tt>_last</tt> or
-     * <tt>_first</tt> to sort missing last or first respectively.
-     */
-    public abstract SortBuilder missing(Object missing);
 }