diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/AbstractBuilderTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/AbstractBuilderTestCase.java
index 45a675004bf54..d607d73336826 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/AbstractBuilderTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/AbstractBuilderTestCase.java
@@ -179,8 +179,7 @@ protected static String createUniqueRandomName() {
 
     protected Settings createTestIndexSettings() {
         // we have to prefer CURRENT since with the range of versions we support it's rather unlikely to get the current actually.
-        Version indexVersionCreated = randomBoolean() ? Version.CURRENT
-                : VersionUtils.randomVersionBetween(random(), Version.CURRENT.minimumIndexCompatibilityVersion(), Version.CURRENT);
+        Version indexVersionCreated = randomBoolean() ? Version.CURRENT : VersionUtils.randomIndexCompatibleVersion(random());
         return Settings.builder()
             .put(IndexMetaData.SETTING_VERSION_CREATED, indexVersionCreated)
             .build();
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/VersionUtils.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/VersionUtils.java
index 720f4182baf3f..990ae8e1f09a2 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/VersionUtils.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/test/VersionUtils.java
@@ -255,11 +255,4 @@ public static Version maxCompatibleVersion(Version version) {
     public static Version randomIndexCompatibleVersion(Random random) {
         return randomVersionBetween(random, Version.CURRENT.minimumIndexCompatibilityVersion(), Version.CURRENT);
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Returns a random version wire compatible with the current version.
-     */
-    public static Version randomWireCompatibleVersion(Random random) {
-        return randomVersionBetween(random, Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion(), Version.CURRENT);
-    }
 }