diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Build.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Build.java
index 50f03a8e1dda8..be76564e52f6b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Build.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/Build.java
@@ -130,21 +130,6 @@ public static String minimumCompatString(IndexVersion minimumCompatible) {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Check whether a node version is compatible with the current minimum transport version.
-     * @param version A version identifier as a string
-     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if version is not a valid transport version identifier
-     * @return true if the version is compatible, false otherwise
-     */
-    public static boolean isNodeVersionWireCompatible(String version) {
-        try {
-            Version esVersion = Version.fromString(version);
-            return esVersion.onOrAfter(Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion());
-        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot parse [" + version + "] as a transport version identifier", e);
-        }
-    }
-
     public static Build current() {
         return CurrentHolder.CURRENT;
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadata.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadata.java
index ce046aa3445fd..37dd01733e664 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadata.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadata.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public void verifyUpgradeToCurrentVersion() {
         assert (nodeVersion.equals(Version.V_EMPTY) == false) || (Version.CURRENT.major <= Version.V_7_0_0.major + 1)
             : "version is required in the node metadata from v9 onwards";
 
-        if (Build.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion.toString()) == false) {
+        if (NodeMetadata.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion.toString()) == false) {
             throw new IllegalStateException(
                 "cannot upgrade a node from version ["
                     + nodeVersion
@@ -220,4 +220,21 @@ public NodeMetadata fromXContent(XContentParser parser) throws IOException {
     }
 
     public static final MetadataStateFormat<NodeMetadata> FORMAT = new NodeMetadataStateFormat(false);
+
+    /**
+     * Check whether a node version is compatible with the current minimum transport version.
+     * @param version A version identifier as a string
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if version is not a valid transport version identifier
+     * @return true if the version is compatible, false otherwise
+     */
+    // visible for testing
+    static boolean isNodeVersionWireCompatible(String version) {
+        try {
+            Version esVersion = Version.fromString(version);
+            return esVersion.onOrAfter(Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion());
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot parse [" + version + "] as a transport version identifier", e);
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/BuildTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/BuildTests.java
index fa266e6e7fb11..dfb6eb492507d 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/BuildTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/BuildTests.java
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.common.io.stream.Writeable;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.EqualsHashCodeTestUtils;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.TransportVersionUtils;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.VersionUtils;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
@@ -121,20 +119,4 @@ public void testStrictTypeParsing() {
         assertThat(e, hasToString(containsString("unexpected distribution type [" + displayName + "]; your distribution is broken")));
     }
 
-    public void testIsNodeVersionWireCompatible() {
-        String nodeVersion = VersionUtils.randomCompatibleVersion(random(), Version.CURRENT).toString();
-        assertTrue(Build.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion));
-        nodeVersion = VersionUtils.getPreviousVersion(Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion()).toString();
-        assertFalse(Build.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion));
-
-        String transportVersion = TransportVersionUtils.randomCompatibleVersion(random()).toString();
-        IllegalArgumentException e1 = expectThrows(
-            IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> Build.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(transportVersion)
-        );
-        assertThat(e1.getMessage(), equalTo("Cannot parse [" + transportVersion + "] as a transport version identifier"));
-
-        IllegalArgumentException e2 = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> Build.isNodeVersionWireCompatible("x.y.z"));
-        assertThat(e2.getMessage(), equalTo("Cannot parse [x.y.z] as a transport version identifier"));
-    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadataTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadataTests.java
index 44ef31cfbd9d7..6a309767878c4 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadataTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/env/NodeMetadataTests.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.IndexVersion;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.EqualsHashCodeTestUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.TransportVersionUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.VersionUtils;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.index.IndexVersionUtils;
 
@@ -158,6 +159,23 @@ public void testUpgradeMarksPreviousVersion() {
         assertThat(nodeMetadata.previousNodeVersion(), equalTo(version));
     }
 
+    public void testIsNodeVersionWireCompatible() {
+        String nodeVersion = VersionUtils.randomCompatibleVersion(random(), Version.CURRENT).toString();
+        assertTrue(NodeMetadata.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion));
+        nodeVersion = VersionUtils.getPreviousVersion(Version.CURRENT.minimumCompatibilityVersion()).toString();
+        assertFalse(NodeMetadata.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(nodeVersion));
+
+        String transportVersion = TransportVersionUtils.randomCompatibleVersion(random()).toString();
+        IllegalArgumentException e1 = expectThrows(
+            IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> NodeMetadata.isNodeVersionWireCompatible(transportVersion)
+        );
+        assertThat(e1.getMessage(), equalTo("Cannot parse [" + transportVersion + "] as a transport version identifier"));
+
+        IllegalArgumentException e2 = expectThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> NodeMetadata.isNodeVersionWireCompatible("x.y.z"));
+        assertThat(e2.getMessage(), equalTo("Cannot parse [x.y.z] as a transport version identifier"));
+    }
+
     public static Version tooNewVersion() {
         return Version.fromId(between(Version.CURRENT.id + 1, 99999999));
     }