diff --git a/elasticsearch-transport-client/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/client/PreBuiltXPackTransportClient.java b/elasticsearch-transport-client/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/client/PreBuiltXPackTransportClient.java
index 427bdebfb91..907fee4cdaa 100644
--- a/elasticsearch-transport-client/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/client/PreBuiltXPackTransportClient.java
+++ b/elasticsearch-transport-client/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/client/PreBuiltXPackTransportClient.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public class PreBuiltXPackTransportClient extends PreBuiltTransportClient {
     }
 
     public PreBuiltXPackTransportClient(Settings settings, Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> plugins) {
-        this(settings, addPlugins(plugins, Collections.singletonList(XPackPlugin.class)), null);
+        this(settings, plugins, null);
     }
 
     public PreBuiltXPackTransportClient(Settings settings, Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> plugins,