diff --git a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/client/desired_nodes.go b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/client/desired_nodes.go
index dc9ce11c75..18db6feccb 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/client/desired_nodes.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/client/desired_nodes.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 var desiredNodesMinVersion = version.MinFor(8, 3, 0)
-var DeprecatedNodeVersionReqBodyParamMinVersion = version.MinFor(8, 13, 0)
+var deprecatedNodeVersionReqBodyParamMinVersion = version.MinFor(8, 13, 0)
 
 type DesiredNodesClient interface {
 	IsDesiredNodesSupported() bool
@@ -74,6 +74,12 @@ func (c *clientV8) GetLatestDesiredNodes(ctx context.Context) (LatestDesiredNode
 }
 
 func (c *clientV8) UpdateDesiredNodes(ctx context.Context, historyID string, version int64, desiredNodes DesiredNodes) error {
+	// remove deprecated field depending on the version
+	if c.version.GTE(deprecatedNodeVersionReqBodyParamMinVersion) {
+		for i := range desiredNodes.DesiredNodes {
+			desiredNodes.DesiredNodes[i].NodeVersion = ""
+		}
+	}
 	return c.put(
 		ctx,
 		fmt.Sprintf("/_internal/desired_nodes/%s/%d", historyID, version),
diff --git a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/driver/desired_nodes.go b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/driver/desired_nodes.go
index a66cfa0ad0..af9c40af14 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/driver/desired_nodes.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/driver/desired_nodes.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (d *defaultDriver) updateDesiredNodes(
 	if err != nil {
 		return results.WithError(err)
 	}
-	nodes, requeue, err := expectedResources.ToDesiredNodes(ctx, d.Client, esVersion)
+	nodes, requeue, err := expectedResources.ToDesiredNodes(ctx, d.Client, esVersion.FinalizeVersion())
 	switch {
 	case err == nil:
 		d.ReconcileState.ReportCondition(
diff --git a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/nodespec/desired_nodes.go b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/nodespec/desired_nodes.go
index c63acead62..5fa7ff336c 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/nodespec/desired_nodes.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/nodespec/desired_nodes.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import (
 	esv1 "github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/apis/elasticsearch/v1"
 	sset "github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/controller/common/statefulset"
 	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/controller/common/tracing"
-	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/controller/common/version"
 	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/client"
 	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/controller/elasticsearch/settings"
 	"github.com/elastic/cloud-on-k8s/v2/pkg/utils/k8s"
@@ -227,7 +226,7 @@ const (
 func (l ResourcesList) ToDesiredNodes(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	k8sClient k8s.Client,
-	version version.Version,
+	version string,
 ) (desiredNodes []client.DesiredNode, requeue bool, err error) {
 	span, ctx := apm.StartSpan(ctx, "compute_desired_nodes", tracing.SpanTypeApp)
 	defer span.End()
@@ -267,7 +266,7 @@ func (l ResourcesList) ToDesiredNodes(
 			})
 
 			node := client.DesiredNode{
-				NodeVersion:     emptyIfDeprecated(version, client.DeprecatedNodeVersionReqBodyParamMinVersion),
+				NodeVersion:     version,
 				ProcessorsRange: nodeResource.cpu,
 				Memory:          fmt.Sprintf("%db", nodeResource.memory),
 				Storage:         fmt.Sprintf("%db", nodeResource.storage),
@@ -280,15 +279,6 @@ func (l ResourcesList) ToDesiredNodes(
 	return desiredNodes, requeue, nil
 }
 
-// emptyIfDeprecated returns an empty string if the version is greater than equal to the deprecated version,
-// else the finalized version.
-func emptyIfDeprecated(version, deprecatedMinVersion version.Version) string {
-	if version.GTE(deprecatedMinVersion) {
-		return ""
-	}
-	return version.FinalizeVersion()
-}
-
 // visit recursively visits a map holding a tree structure and apply a function to nodes that hold a string.
 func visit(keys []string, m map[string]interface{}, apply func(string) string) {
 	for k, v := range m {