diff --git a/qa/ml-basic-multi-node/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlBasicMultiNodeIT.java b/qa/ml-basic-multi-node/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlBasicMultiNodeIT.java
index fef68106898..224796a4d1c 100644
--- a/qa/ml-basic-multi-node/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlBasicMultiNodeIT.java
+++ b/qa/ml-basic-multi-node/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlBasicMultiNodeIT.java
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ public class MlBasicMultiNodeIT extends ESRestTestCase {
         xContentBuilder.endObject();
 
         xContentBuilder.startObject("data_description");
-        xContentBuilder.field("format", "JSON");
+        xContentBuilder.field("format", "xcontent");
         xContentBuilder.field("time_field", "time");
         xContentBuilder.field("time_format", "epoch");
         xContentBuilder.endObject();
diff --git a/qa/ml-disabled/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlPluginDisabledIT.java b/qa/ml-disabled/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlPluginDisabledIT.java
index bb445d2c78b..4991c2cc941 100644
--- a/qa/ml-disabled/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlPluginDisabledIT.java
+++ b/qa/ml-disabled/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlPluginDisabledIT.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class MlPluginDisabledIT extends ESRestTestCase {
         xContentBuilder.endObject();
 
         xContentBuilder.startObject("data_description");
-        xContentBuilder.field("format", "JSON");
+        xContentBuilder.field("format", "xcontent");
         xContentBuilder.field("time_field", "time");
         xContentBuilder.field("time_format", "epoch");
         xContentBuilder.endObject();