diff --git a/db/sstables-format-selector.cc b/db/sstables-format-selector.cc
index cfa0c9ab11..110bc5b139 100644
--- a/db/sstables-format-selector.cc
+++ b/db/sstables-format-selector.cc
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ sstables_format_listener::sstables_format_listener(gms::gossiper& g, sharded<gms
     : _gossiper(g)
     , _features(f)
     , _selector(selector)
-    , _md_feature_listener(*this, sstables::sstable_version_types::md)
     , _me_feature_listener(*this, sstables::sstable_version_types::me)
 { }
 
@@ -87,7 +86,6 @@ future<> sstables_format_listener::start() {
     // The listener may fire immediately, create a thread for that case.
     co_await seastar::async([this] {
         _features.local().me_sstable.when_enabled(_me_feature_listener);
-        _features.local().md_sstable.when_enabled(_md_feature_listener);
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/db/sstables-format-selector.hh b/db/sstables-format-selector.hh
index 6f4c63557d..1b435f57c1 100644
--- a/db/sstables-format-selector.hh
+++ b/db/sstables-format-selector.hh
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ class sstables_format_listener {
     seastar::named_semaphore _sem = {1, named_semaphore_exception_factory{"feature listeners"}};
     seastar::gate _sel;
 
-    feature_enabled_listener _md_feature_listener;
     feature_enabled_listener _me_feature_listener;
 public:
     sstables_format_listener(gms::gossiper& g, sharded<gms::feature_service>& f, sstables_format_selector& selector);
diff --git a/sstables/sstables_manager.hh b/sstables/sstables_manager.hh
index 5b92ecabf8..aa5b2b8788 100644
--- a/sstables/sstables_manager.hh
+++ b/sstables/sstables_manager.hh
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ private:
     // that format. read_sstables_format() also overwrites _sstables_format
     // if an sstable format was chosen earlier (and this choice was persisted
     // in the system table).
-    sstable_version_types _format = sstable_version_types::mc;
+    sstable_version_types _format = sstable_version_types::md;
 
     // _active and _undergoing_close are used in scylla-gdb.py to fetch all sstables
     // on current shard using "scylla sstables" command. If those fields are renamed,