diff --git a/sstables/sstables.hh b/sstables/sstables.hh
index 29a3f515c0..21a5b6cf25 100644
--- a/sstables/sstables.hh
+++ b/sstables/sstables.hh
@@ -875,8 +875,6 @@ public:
     stop_iteration consume(range_tombstone&& rt);
     stop_iteration consume_end_of_partition();
     void consume_end_of_stream();
-
-    metadata_collector& get_metadata_collector();
 };
 
 future<> init_metrics();
diff --git a/sstables/writer.cc b/sstables/writer.cc
index e5ecca1446..bc612bd4dc 100644
--- a/sstables/writer.cc
+++ b/sstables/writer.cc
@@ -32,10 +32,10 @@ sstable_writer::sstable_writer(sstable& sst, const schema& s, uint64_t estimated
     }
     _impl = mc::make_writer(sst, s, estimated_partitions, cfg, enc_stats, pc, shard);
     if (cfg.replay_position) {
-        get_metadata_collector().set_replay_position(cfg.replay_position.value());
+        _impl->_collector.set_replay_position(cfg.replay_position.value());
     }
     if (cfg.sstable_level) {
-        get_metadata_collector().set_sstable_level(cfg.sstable_level.value());
+        _impl->_collector.set_sstable_level(cfg.sstable_level.value());
     }
 }
 
@@ -84,10 +84,6 @@ void sstable_writer::consume_end_of_stream() {
     return _impl->consume_end_of_stream();
 }
 
-metadata_collector& sstable_writer::get_metadata_collector() {
-    return _impl->_collector;
-}
-
 sstable_writer::sstable_writer(sstable_writer&& o) = default;
 sstable_writer& sstable_writer::operator=(sstable_writer&& o) = default;
 sstable_writer::~sstable_writer() = default;