diff --git a/pinot-query-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/query/runtime/SendStatsPredicate.java b/pinot-query-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/query/runtime/SendStatsPredicate.java
index d5d0d861102a..437dd2b307eb 100644
--- a/pinot-query-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/query/runtime/SendStatsPredicate.java
+++ b/pinot-query-runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/query/runtime/SendStatsPredicate.java
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ public static SendStatsPredicate create(PinotConfiguration serverConf, HelixMana
 
   public enum Mode {
     /// Sends stats only if all the cluster participants use the same known version.
+    // ALWAYS is strictly better than SAFE if all servers are already on versions >= 1.4
+    @Deprecated
     SAFE {
       @Override
       public SendStatsPredicate create(HelixManager helixManager) {
diff --git a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
index 916ca208a4aa..0852910c2907 100644
--- a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
+++ b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
@@ -2142,16 +2142,8 @@ public static class MultiStageQueryRunner {
     /// - "SAFE": MSE will only send stats if all instances in the cluster are running 1.4.0 or later.
     /// - "ALWAYS": MSE will always send stats, regardless of the version of the instances in the cluster.
     /// - "NEVER": MSE will never send stats.
-    ///
-    /// The reason for this flag that versions 1.3.0 and lower have two undesired behaviors:
-    /// 1. Some queries using intersection generate incorrect stats
-    /// 2. When stats from other nodes are sent but are different from expected, the query fails.
-    ///
-    /// In 1.4.0 the first issue is solved and instead of failing when unexpected stats are received, the query
-    /// continues without children stats. But if a query involves servers in versions 1.3.0 and 1.4.0, the one
-    /// running 1.3.0 may fail, which breaks backward compatibility.
     public static final String KEY_OF_SEND_STATS_MODE = "pinot.query.mse.stats.mode";
-    public static final String DEFAULT_SEND_STATS_MODE = "SAFE";
+    public static final String DEFAULT_SEND_STATS_MODE = "ALWAYS";
 
     /// Used to indicate whether MSE pipeline breaker stats should be included in the queryStats field.
     /// This flag was introduced in 1.5.0. Before 1.5.0, MSE pipeline breaker stats were not kept. Starting from 1.5.0,