diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/NodesCapabilitiesUpgradeIT.java b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/NodesCapabilitiesUpgradeIT.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 8c40dfa94d4a..000000000000
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/upgrades/NodesCapabilitiesUpgradeIT.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,69 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the "Elastic License
- * 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 only", and the "Server Side
- * Public License v 1"; you may not use this file except in compliance with, at
- * your election, the "Elastic License 2.0", the "GNU Affero General Public
- * License v3.0 only", or the "Server Side Public License, v 1".
- */
-
-package org.elasticsearch.upgrades;
-
-import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.annotations.Name;
-
-import org.elasticsearch.client.ResponseException;
-import org.elasticsearch.core.UpdateForV9;
-import org.junit.Before;
-
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.List;
-
-import static org.elasticsearch.test.hamcrest.OptionalMatchers.isPresentWith;
-
-@UpdateForV9(owner = UpdateForV9.Owner.CORE_INFRA)
-public class NodesCapabilitiesUpgradeIT extends AbstractRollingUpgradeTestCase {
-
-    private static Boolean upgradingBeforeCapabilities;
-
-    public NodesCapabilitiesUpgradeIT(@Name("upgradedNodes") int upgradedNodes) {
-        super(upgradedNodes);
-    }
-
-    @Before
-    public void checkBeforeHasNoCapabilities() throws IOException {
-        if (upgradingBeforeCapabilities == null) {
-            // try to do a _capabilities query on a node before we upgrade
-            try {
-                clusterHasCapability("GET", "_capabilities", List.of(), List.of());
-                upgradingBeforeCapabilities = false;
-            } catch (ResponseException e) {
-                if (e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode() == 400) {
-                    upgradingBeforeCapabilities = true;
-                } else {
-                    throw e;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        assumeTrue("Only valid when upgrading from versions without capabilities API", upgradingBeforeCapabilities);
-    }
-
-    public void testCapabilitiesReturnsFalsePartiallyUpgraded() throws IOException {
-        if (isMixedCluster()) {
-            // capabilities checks should either fail (if talking to an old node),
-            // or return false as not all nodes have the API (if talking to a new node)
-            try {
-                assertThat(
-                    "Upgraded node should report no capabilities supported",
-                    clusterHasCapability("GET", "_capabilities", List.of(), List.of()),
-                    isPresentWith(false)
-                );
-            } catch (ResponseException e) {
-                if (e.getResponse().getStatusLine().getStatusCode() != 400) {
-                    // throw explicitly to capture exception too
-                    throw new AssertionError("Old node should not have the capabilities API", e);
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}