diff --git a/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/Watcher.java b/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/Watcher.java
index abfca711077..6784c61ea9e 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/Watcher.java
+++ b/elasticsearch/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/watcher/Watcher.java
@@ -137,8 +137,6 @@ import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
 
 public class Watcher implements ActionPlugin, ScriptPlugin {
 
-    public static final Setting<String> INDEX_WATCHER_VERSION_SETTING =
-            new Setting<>("index.xpack.watcher.plugin.version", "", Function.identity(), Setting.Property.IndexScope);
     public static final Setting<String> INDEX_WATCHER_TEMPLATE_VERSION_SETTING =
             new Setting<>("index.xpack.watcher.template.version", "", Function.identity(), Setting.Property.IndexScope);
     public static final Setting<Boolean> ENCRYPT_SENSITIVE_DATA_SETTING =
@@ -249,7 +247,6 @@ public class Watcher implements ActionPlugin, ScriptPlugin {
         for (TemplateConfig templateConfig : WatcherIndexTemplateRegistry.TEMPLATE_CONFIGS) {
             settings.add(templateConfig.getSetting());
         }
-        settings.add(INDEX_WATCHER_VERSION_SETTING);
         settings.add(INDEX_WATCHER_TEMPLATE_VERSION_SETTING);
         settings.add(MAX_STOP_TIMEOUT_SETTING);
         settings.add(ExecutionService.DEFAULT_THROTTLE_PERIOD_SETTING);
diff --git a/elasticsearch/src/main/resources/watch_history.json b/elasticsearch/src/main/resources/watch_history.json
index c5305fca6e5..06d968dd85d 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/src/main/resources/watch_history.json
+++ b/elasticsearch/src/main/resources/watch_history.json
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   "template": ".watcher-history-${xpack.watcher.template.version}*",
   "order": 2147483647,
   "settings": {
-    "xpack.watcher.plugin.version": "${xpack.watcher.plugin.version}",
     "xpack.watcher.template.version": "${xpack.watcher.template.version}",
     "index.number_of_shards": 1,
     "index.mapper.dynamic": false