diff --git a/libs/common/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/annotation/processor/ApiAnnotationProcessor.java b/libs/common/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/annotation/processor/ApiAnnotationProcessor.java
index 0d4e342bd9dc6..6264d00f01887 100644
--- a/libs/common/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/annotation/processor/ApiAnnotationProcessor.java
+++ b/libs/common/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/annotation/processor/ApiAnnotationProcessor.java
@@ -179,11 +179,6 @@ private void process(ExecutableElement executable, ReferenceType ref) {
             return;
         }
 
-        // Skip protobuf generated classes used in public apis
-        if (ref.toString().contains("Proto")) {
-            return;
-        }
-
         if (ref instanceof DeclaredType) {
             final DeclaredType declaredType = (DeclaredType) ref;
 
@@ -243,7 +238,15 @@ private boolean inspectable(ExecutableElement executable) {
      */
     private boolean inspectable(Element element) {
         final PackageElement pckg = processingEnv.getElementUtils().getPackageOf(element);
-        return pckg.getQualifiedName().toString().startsWith(OPENSEARCH_PACKAGE);
+        return pckg.getQualifiedName().toString().startsWith(OPENSEARCH_PACKAGE)
+            && !element.getEnclosingElement()
+                .getAnnotationMirrors()
+                .stream()
+                .anyMatch(
+                    m -> m.getAnnotationType()
+                        .toString() /* ClassSymbol.toString() returns class name */
+                        .equalsIgnoreCase("javax.annotation.Generated")
+                );
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/FeatureFlags.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/FeatureFlags.java
index e43dfd3b3b063..f9da0968699b5 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/FeatureFlags.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/util/FeatureFlags.java
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ public class FeatureFlags {
 
     public static final Setting<Boolean> PLUGGABLE_CACHE_SETTING = Setting.boolSetting(PLUGGABLE_CACHE, false, Property.NodeScope);
 
+    public static final Setting<Boolean> PROTOBUF_SETTING = Setting.boolSetting(PROTOBUF, false, Property.NodeScope, Property.Dynamic);
+
     private static final List<Setting<Boolean>> ALL_FEATURE_FLAG_SETTINGS = List.of(
         REMOTE_STORE_MIGRATION_EXPERIMENTAL_SETTING,
         EXTENSIONS_SETTING,
@@ -110,7 +112,8 @@ public class FeatureFlags {
         TELEMETRY_SETTING,
         DATETIME_FORMATTER_CACHING_SETTING,
         WRITEABLE_REMOTE_INDEX_SETTING,
-        PLUGGABLE_CACHE_SETTING
+        PLUGGABLE_CACHE_SETTING,
+        PROTOBUF_SETTING
     );
     /**
      * Should store the settings from opensearch.yml.
@@ -166,5 +169,4 @@ public static boolean isEnabled(Setting<Boolean> featureFlag) {
         }
     }
 
-    public static final Setting<Boolean> PROTOBUF_SETTING = Setting.boolSetting(PROTOBUF, false, Property.NodeScope, Property.Dynamic);
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHit.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHit.java
index 3cd85488bd0c6..6391353cfe5b1 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHit.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHit.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.opensearch.common.annotation.PublicApi;
 import org.opensearch.common.document.DocumentField;
-import org.opensearch.common.util.FeatureFlags;
 import org.opensearch.common.xcontent.XContentHelper;
 import org.opensearch.core.ParseField;
 import org.opensearch.core.common.ParsingException;
@@ -68,8 +67,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.rest.action.search.RestSearchAction;
 import org.opensearch.search.fetch.subphase.highlight.HighlightField;
 import org.opensearch.search.lookup.SourceLookup;
-import org.opensearch.search.serializer.SearchHitProtobufSerializer;
-import org.opensearch.server.proto.FetchSearchResultProto;
 import org.opensearch.transport.RemoteClusterAware;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -142,8 +139,6 @@ public final class SearchHit implements Writeable, ToXContentObject, Iterable<Do
 
     private Map<String, SearchHits> innerHits;
 
-    private FetchSearchResultProto.SearchHit searchHitProto;
-
     // used only in tests
     public SearchHit(int docId) {
         this(docId, null, null, null);
@@ -169,9 +164,6 @@ public SearchHit(
         this.nestedIdentity = nestedIdentity;
         this.documentFields = documentFields == null ? emptyMap() : documentFields;
         this.metaFields = metaFields == null ? emptyMap() : metaFields;
-        if (FeatureFlags.isEnabled(FeatureFlags.PROTOBUF)) {
-            this.searchHitProto = SearchHitProtobufSerializer.convertHitToProto(this);
-        }
     }
 
     public SearchHit(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
@@ -456,9 +448,6 @@ public void setDocumentField(String fieldName, DocumentField field) {
         if (fieldName == null || field == null) return;
         if (documentFields.isEmpty()) this.documentFields = new HashMap<>();
         this.documentFields.put(fieldName, field);
-        if (FeatureFlags.isEnabled(FeatureFlags.PROTOBUF)) {
-            this.searchHitProto = SearchHitProtobufSerializer.convertHitToProto(this);
-        }
     }
 
     public DocumentField removeDocumentField(String fieldName) {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHits.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHits.java
index cd5854898fccd..0b4ee3851bd61 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHits.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/search/SearchHits.java
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.opensearch.common.annotation.PublicApi;
 import org.opensearch.common.lucene.Lucene;
-import org.opensearch.common.util.FeatureFlags;
 import org.opensearch.core.common.io.stream.StreamInput;
 import org.opensearch.core.common.io.stream.StreamOutput;
 import org.opensearch.core.common.io.stream.Writeable;
@@ -46,7 +45,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.opensearch.core.xcontent.XContentParser;
 import org.opensearch.rest.action.search.RestSearchAction;
-import org.opensearch.search.serializer.SearchHitsProtobufSerializer;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -84,8 +82,6 @@ public static SearchHits empty(boolean withTotalHits) {
     @Nullable
     private final Object[] collapseValues;
 
-    private org.opensearch.server.proto.FetchSearchResultProto.SearchHits searchHitsProto;
-
     public SearchHits(SearchHit[] hits, @Nullable TotalHits totalHits, float maxScore) {
         this(hits, totalHits, maxScore, null, null, null);
     }
@@ -104,9 +100,6 @@ public SearchHits(
         this.sortFields = sortFields;
         this.collapseField = collapseField;
         this.collapseValues = collapseValues;
-        if (FeatureFlags.isEnabled(FeatureFlags.PROTOBUF_SETTING)) {
-            this.searchHitsProto = SearchHitsProtobufSerializer.convertHitsToProto(this);
-        }
     }
 
     public SearchHits(StreamInput in) throws IOException {