diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeSinkOperator.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeSinkOperator.java
index f87edd1a3e169..9eff2161e29c9 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeSinkOperator.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeSinkOperator.java
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Objects;
-import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 
 /**
@@ -32,17 +31,14 @@
 public class ExchangeSinkOperator extends SinkOperator {
 
     private final ExchangeSink sink;
-    private final Function<Page, Page> transformer;
     private int pagesReceived;
     private long rowsReceived;
 
-    public record ExchangeSinkOperatorFactory(Supplier<ExchangeSink> exchangeSinks, Function<Page, Page> transformer)
-        implements
-            SinkOperatorFactory {
+    public record ExchangeSinkOperatorFactory(Supplier<ExchangeSink> exchangeSinks) implements SinkOperatorFactory {
 
         @Override
         public SinkOperator get(DriverContext driverContext) {
-            return new ExchangeSinkOperator(exchangeSinks.get(), transformer);
+            return new ExchangeSinkOperator(exchangeSinks.get());
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -51,9 +47,8 @@ public String describe() {
         }
     }
 
-    public ExchangeSinkOperator(ExchangeSink sink, Function<Page, Page> transformer) {
+    public ExchangeSinkOperator(ExchangeSink sink) {
         this.sink = sink;
-        this.transformer = transformer;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -84,7 +79,7 @@ public boolean needsInput() {
     protected void doAddInput(Page page) {
         pagesReceived++;
         rowsReceived += page.getPositionCount();
-        sink.addPage(transformer.apply(page));
+        sink.addPage(page);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/DriverTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/DriverTests.java
index 7fe90a3fa4ee5..c538cf41ee1fd 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/DriverTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/DriverTests.java
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.CyclicBarrier;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
-import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.LongSupplier;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.either;
@@ -328,7 +327,7 @@ public void testEarlyTermination() {
             final int maxAllowedRows = between(1, 100);
             final AtomicInteger processedRows = new AtomicInteger(0);
             var sinkHandler = new ExchangeSinkHandler(driverContext.blockFactory(), positions, System::currentTimeMillis);
-            var sinkOperator = new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkHandler.createExchangeSink(() -> {}), Function.identity());
+            var sinkOperator = new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkHandler.createExchangeSink(() -> {}));
             final var delayOperator = new EvalOperator(driverContext.blockFactory(), new EvalOperator.ExpressionEvaluator() {
                 @Override
                 public Block eval(Page page) {
@@ -365,7 +364,7 @@ public void testResumeOnEarlyFinish() throws Exception {
             var sourceHandler = new ExchangeSourceHandler(between(1, 5), threadPool.executor("esql"));
             var sinkHandler = new ExchangeSinkHandler(driverContext.blockFactory(), between(1, 5), System::currentTimeMillis);
             var sourceOperator = new ExchangeSourceOperator(sourceHandler.createExchangeSource());
-            var sinkOperator = new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkHandler.createExchangeSink(() -> {}), Function.identity());
+            var sinkOperator = new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkHandler.createExchangeSink(() -> {}));
             Driver driver = TestDriverFactory.create(driverContext, sourceOperator, List.of(), sinkOperator);
             PlainActionFuture<Void> future = new PlainActionFuture<>();
             Driver.start(threadPool.getThreadContext(), threadPool.executor("esql"), driver, between(1, 1000), future);
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/ForkingOperatorTestCase.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/ForkingOperatorTestCase.java
index bc3024ac4f45d..7d1471a0f3ebf 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/ForkingOperatorTestCase.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/ForkingOperatorTestCase.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
@@ -242,7 +241,7 @@ List<Driver> createDriversForInput(List<Page> input, List<Page> results, boolean
                         simpleWithMode(AggregatorMode.INTERMEDIATE).get(driver1Context),
                         intermediateOperatorItr.next()
                     ),
-                    new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkExchanger.createExchangeSink(() -> {}), Function.identity())
+                    new ExchangeSinkOperator(sinkExchanger.createExchangeSink(() -> {}))
                 )
             );
         }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeServiceTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeServiceTests.java
index 92cf99b5b3a87..9da7ae8d4bbd5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeServiceTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/compute/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/compute/operator/exchange/ExchangeServiceTests.java
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
-import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
@@ -305,7 +304,7 @@ Set<Integer> runConcurrentTest(
                 "sink-" + i,
                 dc,
                 seqNoGenerator.get(dc),
-                new ExchangeSinkOperator(exchangeSink.get(), Function.identity())
+                new ExchangeSinkOperator(exchangeSink.get())
             );
             drivers.add(d);
         }
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/plan/physical/ExchangeSinkExec.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/plan/physical/ExchangeSinkExec.java
index e342f17363bc8..940471484c3e7 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/plan/physical/ExchangeSinkExec.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/plan/physical/ExchangeSinkExec.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ public class ExchangeSinkExec extends UnaryExec {
     );
 
     private final List<Attribute> output;
+    // TODO: remove this flag
     private final boolean intermediateAgg;
 
     public ExchangeSinkExec(Source source, List<Attribute> output, boolean intermediateAgg, PhysicalPlan child) {
diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/planner/LocalExecutionPlanner.java b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/planner/LocalExecutionPlanner.java
index 3e1c8b2585012..d82417c6acfff 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/planner/LocalExecutionPlanner.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/esql/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/planner/LocalExecutionPlanner.java
@@ -385,14 +385,8 @@ private PhysicalOperation planExchange(ExchangeExec exchangeExec, LocalExecution
     private PhysicalOperation planExchangeSink(ExchangeSinkExec exchangeSink, LocalExecutionPlannerContext context) {
         Objects.requireNonNull(exchangeSinkSupplier, "ExchangeSinkHandler wasn't provided");
         var child = exchangeSink.child();
-
         PhysicalOperation source = plan(child, context);
-
-        Function<Page, Page> transformer = exchangeSink.isIntermediateAgg()
-            ? Function.identity()
-            : alignPageToAttributes(exchangeSink.output(), source.layout);
-
-        return source.withSink(new ExchangeSinkOperatorFactory(exchangeSinkSupplier, transformer), source.layout);
+        return source.withSink(new ExchangeSinkOperatorFactory(exchangeSinkSupplier), source.layout);
     }
 
     private PhysicalOperation planExchangeSource(ExchangeSourceExec exchangeSource, LocalExecutionPlannerContext context) {