diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/BaseTransportInferenceAction.java b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/BaseTransportInferenceAction.java
index 08d74a36d6503..23117d0daa35a 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/BaseTransportInferenceAction.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/inference/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/inference/action/BaseTransportInferenceAction.java
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.core.Strings.format;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.InferencePlugin.INFERENCE_API_FEATURE;
-import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.common.InferenceAPIClusterAwareRateLimitingFeature.INFERENCE_API_CLUSTER_AWARE_RATE_LIMITING_FEATURE_FLAG;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.telemetry.InferenceStats.modelAttributes;
 import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.inference.telemetry.InferenceStats.responseAttributes;
 
@@ -188,10 +187,6 @@ private void validateRequest(Request request, UnparsedModel unparsedModel) {
     }
 
     private NodeRoutingDecision determineRouting(String serviceName, Request request, UnparsedModel unparsedModel) {
-        if (INFERENCE_API_CLUSTER_AWARE_RATE_LIMITING_FEATURE_FLAG.isEnabled() == false) {
-            return NodeRoutingDecision.handleLocally();
-        }
-
         var modelTaskType = unparsedModel.taskType();
 
         // Rerouting not supported or request was already rerouted