diff --git a/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/index.test.ts b/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/index.test.ts
index e704532ee4cdf..7353f5d3eb760 100644
--- a/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/index.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/index.test.ts
@@ -24,22 +24,6 @@ import { docMissingSuite } from './doc_missing';
 import { docMissingAndIndexReadOnlySuite } from './doc_missing_and_index_read_only';
 
 describe('uiSettings/routes', function () {
-  /**
-   *  The "doc missing" and "index missing" tests verify how the uiSettings
-   *  API behaves in between healthChecks, so they interact with the healthCheck
-   *  in somewhat weird ways (can't wait until we get to https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/14163)
-   *
-   *  To make this work we have a `waitUntilNextHealthCheck()` function in ./lib/servers.js
-   *  that deletes the kibana index and then calls `plugins.elasticsearch.waitUntilReady()`.
-   *
-   *  waitUntilReady() waits for the kibana index to exist and then for the
-   *  elasticsearch plugin to go green. Since we have verified that the kibana index
-   *  does not exist we know that the plugin will also turn yellow while waiting for
-   *  it and then green once the health check is complete, ensuring that we run our
-   *  tests right after the health check. All of this is to say that the tests are
-   *  stupidly fragile and timing sensitive. #14163 should fix that, but until then
-   *  this is the most stable way I've been able to get this to work.
-   */
   jest.setTimeout(10000);
 
   beforeAll(startServers);
diff --git a/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/lib/servers.ts b/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/lib/servers.ts
index ea462291059a5..b4cfc3c1efe8b 100644
--- a/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/lib/servers.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/ui_settings/integration_tests/lib/servers.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ interface AllServices {
   savedObjectsClient: SavedObjectsClientContract;
   callCluster: LegacyAPICaller;
   uiSettings: IUiSettingsClient;
-  deleteKibanaIndex: typeof deleteKibanaIndex;
 }
 
 let services: AllServices;
@@ -62,20 +61,6 @@ export async function startServers() {
   kbnServer = kbn.kbnServer;
 }
 
-async function deleteKibanaIndex(callCluster: LegacyAPICaller) {
-  const kibanaIndices = await callCluster('cat.indices', { index: '.kibana*', format: 'json' });
-  const indexNames = kibanaIndices.map((x: any) => x.index);
-  if (!indexNames.length) {
-    return;
-  }
-  await callCluster('indices.putSettings', {
-    index: indexNames,
-    body: { index: { blocks: { read_only: false } } },
-  });
-  await callCluster('indices.delete', { index: indexNames });
-  return indexNames;
-}
-
 export function getServices() {
   if (services) {
     return services;
@@ -97,7 +82,6 @@ export function getServices() {
     callCluster,
     savedObjectsClient,
     uiSettings,
-    deleteKibanaIndex,
   };
 
   return services;
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.d.ts b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.d.ts
index 683f58b1a80ce..83e7bb19e57ba 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.d.ts
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.d.ts
@@ -523,6 +523,4 @@ export interface CallCluster {
 export interface ElasticsearchPlugin {
   status: { on: (status: string, cb: () => void) => void };
   getCluster(name: string): Cluster;
-  createCluster(name: string, config: ClusterConfig): Cluster;
-  waitUntilReady(): Promise<void>;
 }
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.js
index eb502e97fb77c..599886788604b 100644
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.js
+++ b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/index.js
@@ -19,14 +19,12 @@
 import { first } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { Cluster } from './server/lib/cluster';
 import { createProxy } from './server/lib/create_proxy';
-import { handleESError } from './server/lib/handle_es_error';
-import { versionHealthCheck } from './lib/version_health_check';
 
 export default function (kibana) {
   let defaultVars;
 
   return new kibana.Plugin({
-    require: ['kibana'],
+    require: [],
 
     uiExports: { injectDefaultVars: () => defaultVars },
 
@@ -61,25 +59,6 @@ export default function (kibana) {
         return clusters.get(name);
       });
 
-      server.expose('createCluster', (name, clientConfig = {}) => {
-        // NOTE: Not having `admin` and `data` clients provided by the core in `clusters`
-        // map implicitly allows to create custom `data` and `admin` clients. This is
-        // allowed intentionally to support custom `admin` cluster client created by the
-        // x-pack/monitoring bulk uploader. We should forbid that as soon as monitoring
-        // bulk uploader is refactored, see https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/31934.
-        if (clusters.has(name)) {
-          throw new Error(`cluster '${name}' already exists`);
-        }
-
-        const cluster = new Cluster(
-          server.newPlatform.setup.core.elasticsearch.legacy.createClient(name, clientConfig)
-        );
-
-        clusters.set(name, cluster);
-
-        return cluster;
-      });
-
       server.events.on('stop', () => {
         for (const cluster of clusters.values()) {
           cluster.close();
@@ -88,17 +67,7 @@ export default function (kibana) {
         clusters.clear();
       });
 
-      server.expose('handleESError', handleESError);
-
       createProxy(server);
-
-      const waitUntilHealthy = versionHealthCheck(
-        this,
-        server.logWithMetadata,
-        server.newPlatform.__internals.elasticsearch.esNodesCompatibility$
-      );
-
-      server.expose('waitUntilReady', () => waitUntilHealthy);
     },
   });
 }
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/integration_tests/elasticsearch.test.ts b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/integration_tests/elasticsearch.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 0331153cdf615..0000000000000
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/integration_tests/elasticsearch.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,89 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-import {
-  createTestServers,
-  TestElasticsearchUtils,
-  TestKibanaUtils,
-  TestUtils,
-  createRootWithCorePlugins,
-  getKbnServer,
-} from '../../../../test_utils/kbn_server';
-
-import { BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs';
-// eslint-disable-next-line @kbn/eslint/no-restricted-paths
-import { NodesVersionCompatibility } from 'src/core/server/elasticsearch/version_check/ensure_es_version';
-
-describe('Elasticsearch plugin', () => {
-  let servers: TestUtils;
-  let esServer: TestElasticsearchUtils;
-  let root: TestKibanaUtils['root'];
-  let elasticsearch: TestKibanaUtils['kbnServer']['server']['plugins']['elasticsearch'];
-
-  const esNodesCompatibility$ = new BehaviorSubject<NodesVersionCompatibility>({
-    isCompatible: true,
-    incompatibleNodes: [],
-    warningNodes: [],
-    kibanaVersion: '8.0.0',
-  });
-
-  beforeAll(async function () {
-    const settings = {
-      elasticsearch: {},
-      adjustTimeout: (t: any) => {
-        jest.setTimeout(t);
-      },
-    };
-    servers = createTestServers(settings);
-    esServer = await servers.startES();
-
-    const elasticsearchSettings = {
-      hosts: esServer.hosts,
-      username: esServer.username,
-      password: esServer.password,
-    };
-    root = createRootWithCorePlugins({ elasticsearch: elasticsearchSettings });
-
-    const setup = await root.setup();
-    setup.elasticsearch.esNodesCompatibility$ = esNodesCompatibility$;
-    await root.start();
-
-    elasticsearch = getKbnServer(root).server.plugins.elasticsearch;
-  });
-
-  afterAll(async () => {
-    await esServer.stop();
-    await root.shutdown();
-  }, 30000);
-
-  it("should set it's status to green when all nodes are compatible", (done) => {
-    jest.setTimeout(30000);
-    elasticsearch.status.on('green', () => done());
-  });
-
-  it("should set it's status to red when some nodes aren't compatible", (done) => {
-    esNodesCompatibility$.next({
-      isCompatible: false,
-      incompatibleNodes: [],
-      warningNodes: [],
-      kibanaVersion: '8.0.0',
-    });
-    elasticsearch.status.on('red', () => done());
-  });
-});
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b1a106d2aae5d..0000000000000
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-export const versionHealthCheck = (esPlugin, logWithMetadata, esNodesCompatibility$) => {
-  esPlugin.status.yellow('Waiting for Elasticsearch');
-
-  return new Promise((resolve) => {
-    esNodesCompatibility$.subscribe(({ isCompatible, message, kibanaVersion, warningNodes }) => {
-      if (!isCompatible) {
-        esPlugin.status.red(message);
-      } else {
-        if (message) {
-          logWithMetadata(['warning'], message, {
-            kibanaVersion,
-            nodes: warningNodes,
-          });
-        }
-        esPlugin.status.green('Ready');
-        resolve();
-      }
-    });
-  });
-};
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.test.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c03c0c0105ee..0000000000000
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/lib/version_health_check.test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-import { versionHealthCheck } from './version_health_check';
-import { Subject } from 'rxjs';
-
-describe('plugins/elasticsearch', () => {
-  describe('lib/health_version_check', function () {
-    let plugin;
-    let logWithMetadata;
-
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      plugin = {
-        status: {
-          red: jest.fn(),
-          green: jest.fn(),
-          yellow: jest.fn(),
-        },
-      };
-
-      logWithMetadata = jest.fn();
-      jest.clearAllMocks();
-    });
-
-    it('returned promise resolves when all nodes are compatible ', function () {
-      const esNodesCompatibility$ = new Subject();
-      const versionHealthyPromise = versionHealthCheck(
-        plugin,
-        logWithMetadata,
-        esNodesCompatibility$
-      );
-      esNodesCompatibility$.next({ isCompatible: true, message: undefined });
-      return expect(versionHealthyPromise).resolves.toBe(undefined);
-    });
-
-    it('should set elasticsearch plugin status to green when all nodes are compatible', function () {
-      const esNodesCompatibility$ = new Subject();
-      versionHealthCheck(plugin, logWithMetadata, esNodesCompatibility$);
-      expect(plugin.status.yellow).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Waiting for Elasticsearch');
-      expect(plugin.status.green).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-      esNodesCompatibility$.next({ isCompatible: true, message: undefined });
-      expect(plugin.status.green).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Ready');
-      expect(plugin.status.red).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    });
-
-    it('should set elasticsearch plugin status to red when some nodes are incompatible', function () {
-      const esNodesCompatibility$ = new Subject();
-      versionHealthCheck(plugin, logWithMetadata, esNodesCompatibility$);
-      expect(plugin.status.yellow).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Waiting for Elasticsearch');
-      expect(plugin.status.red).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-      esNodesCompatibility$.next({ isCompatible: false, message: 'your nodes are incompatible' });
-      expect(plugin.status.red).toHaveBeenCalledWith('your nodes are incompatible');
-      expect(plugin.status.green).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/__tests__/handle_es_error.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/__tests__/handle_es_error.js
deleted file mode 100644
index ccab1a3b830b6..0000000000000
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/__tests__/handle_es_error.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-import expect from '@kbn/expect';
-import { handleESError } from '../handle_es_error';
-import { errors as esErrors } from 'elasticsearch';
-
-describe('handleESError', function () {
-  it('should transform elasticsearch errors into boom errors with the same status code', function () {
-    const conflict = handleESError(new esErrors.Conflict());
-    expect(conflict.isBoom).to.be(true);
-    expect(conflict.output.statusCode).to.be(409);
-
-    const forbidden = handleESError(new esErrors[403]());
-    expect(forbidden.isBoom).to.be(true);
-    expect(forbidden.output.statusCode).to.be(403);
-
-    const notFound = handleESError(new esErrors.NotFound());
-    expect(notFound.isBoom).to.be(true);
-    expect(notFound.output.statusCode).to.be(404);
-
-    const badRequest = handleESError(new esErrors.BadRequest());
-    expect(badRequest.isBoom).to.be(true);
-    expect(badRequest.output.statusCode).to.be(400);
-  });
-
-  it('should return an unknown error without transforming it', function () {
-    const unknown = new Error('mystery error');
-    expect(handleESError(unknown)).to.be(unknown);
-  });
-
-  it('should return a boom 503 server timeout error for ES connection errors', function () {
-    expect(handleESError(new esErrors.ConnectionFault()).output.statusCode).to.be(503);
-    expect(handleESError(new esErrors.ServiceUnavailable()).output.statusCode).to.be(503);
-    expect(handleESError(new esErrors.NoConnections()).output.statusCode).to.be(503);
-    expect(handleESError(new esErrors.RequestTimeout()).output.statusCode).to.be(503);
-  });
-
-  it('should throw an error if called with a non-error argument', function () {
-    expect(handleESError).withArgs('notAnError').to.throwException();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/handle_es_error.js b/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/handle_es_error.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d76b2a2aa9364..0000000000000
--- a/src/legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch/server/lib/handle_es_error.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-
-import Boom from 'boom';
-import _ from 'lodash';
-import { errors as esErrors } from 'elasticsearch';
-
-export function handleESError(error) {
-  if (!(error instanceof Error)) {
-    throw new Error('Expected an instance of Error');
-  }
-
-  if (
-    error instanceof esErrors.ConnectionFault ||
-    error instanceof esErrors.ServiceUnavailable ||
-    error instanceof esErrors.NoConnections ||
-    error instanceof esErrors.RequestTimeout
-  ) {
-    return Boom.serverUnavailable(error);
-  } else if (
-    error instanceof esErrors.Conflict ||
-    _.includes(error.message, 'index_template_already_exists')
-  ) {
-    return Boom.conflict(error);
-  } else if (error instanceof esErrors[403]) {
-    return Boom.forbidden(error);
-  } else if (error instanceof esErrors.NotFound) {
-    return Boom.notFound(error);
-  } else if (error instanceof esErrors.BadRequest) {
-    return Boom.badRequest(error);
-  } else {
-    return error;
-  }
-}
diff --git a/src/test_utils/kbn_server.ts b/src/test_utils/kbn_server.ts
index e337a469f17e6..e44ce0de403d9 100644
--- a/src/test_utils/kbn_server.ts
+++ b/src/test_utils/kbn_server.ts
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ import { defaultsDeep, get } from 'lodash';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import { BehaviorSubject } from 'rxjs';
 import supertest from 'supertest';
+import { LegacyAPICaller } from '../core/server';
 import { CliArgs, Env } from '../core/server/config';
 import { Root } from '../core/server/root';
 import KbnServer from '../legacy/server/kbn_server';
-import { CallCluster } from '../legacy/core_plugins/elasticsearch';
 
 export type HttpMethod = 'delete' | 'get' | 'head' | 'post' | 'put';
 
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ export interface TestElasticsearchServer {
   stop: () => Promise<void>;
   cleanup: () => Promise<void>;
   getClient: () => Client;
-  getCallCluster: () => CallCluster;
+  getCallCluster: () => LegacyAPICaller;
   getUrl: () => string;
 }
 
@@ -292,7 +292,6 @@ export function createTestServers({
       await root.start();
 
       const kbnServer = getKbnServer(root);
-      await kbnServer.server.plugins.elasticsearch.waitUntilReady();
 
       return {
         root,