diff --git a/protocol/src/main/java/org/opensearch/sql/protocol/response/format/FlatResponseBase.java b/protocol/src/main/java/org/opensearch/sql/protocol/response/format/FlatResponseBase.java
index be2517bf6c..ee6e2051d2 100644
--- a/protocol/src/main/java/org/opensearch/sql/protocol/response/format/FlatResponseBase.java
+++ b/protocol/src/main/java/org/opensearch/sql/protocol/response/format/FlatResponseBase.java
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ protected List<List<String>> formatData(List<List<String>> lines) {
 
   protected String quoteIfRequired(String separator, String cell) {
     final String quote = "\"";
-    if (cell != null && (cell.contains(separator) || cell.contains(quote))) {
+    if (cell.contains(separator) || cell.contains(quote)) {
       return quote + cell.replaceAll(quote, quote + quote) + quote;
     } else {
       return cell;