diff --git a/dotnet/src/webdriver/Proxy.cs b/dotnet/src/webdriver/Proxy.cs
index 1a696a7a48c46..e7e9281f7f4a8 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/webdriver/Proxy.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/webdriver/Proxy.cs
@@ -27,16 +27,12 @@ namespace OpenQA.Selenium
     /// <summary>
     /// Describes the kind of proxy.
     /// </summary>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// Keep these in sync with the Firefox preferences numbers:
-    /// http://kb.mozillazine.org/Network.proxy.type
-    /// </remarks>
     public enum ProxyKind
     {
         /// <summary>
-        ///  Direct connection, no proxy (default on Windows).
+        ///  Direct connection, no proxy.
         /// </summary>
-        Direct = 0,
+        Direct,
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Manual proxy settings (e.g., for httpProxy).
@@ -51,15 +47,15 @@ public enum ProxyKind
         /// <summary>
         /// Use proxy automatic detection.
         /// </summary>
-        AutoDetect = 4,
+        AutoDetect,
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Use the system values for proxy settings (default on Linux).
+        /// Use the system values for proxy settings.
         /// </summary>
         System,
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// No proxy type is specified.
+        /// No proxy type is specified. This must be changed before use
         /// </summary>
         Unspecified
     }
@@ -496,7 +492,10 @@ internal Dictionary<string, object> ToLegacyCapability()
         private Dictionary<string, object> AsDictionary(bool isSpecCompliant)
         {
             Dictionary<string, object> serializedDictionary = null;
-            if (this.proxyKind != ProxyKind.Unspecified)
+            if (this.proxyKind == ProxyKind.Unspecified) {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("proxyKind must be set before use");
+            }
+            else
             {
                 serializedDictionary = new Dictionary<string, object>();
                 if (this.proxyKind == ProxyKind.ProxyAutoConfigure)
diff --git a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/Proxy.java b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/Proxy.java
index ca264597802ae..f6db9bc4a798a 100644
--- a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/Proxy.java
+++ b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/Proxy.java
@@ -36,19 +36,12 @@
 public class Proxy {
 
   public enum ProxyType {
-    // Keep these in sync with the Firefox preferences numbers:
-    // http://kb.mozillazine.org/Network.proxy.type
-
-    DIRECT("direct"), // Direct connection, no proxy (default on Windows)
+    DIRECT("direct"), // Direct connection, no proxy
     MANUAL("manual"), // Manual proxy settings (e.g. for httpProxy)
     PAC("pac"), // Proxy auto-configuration from URL
-
-    RESERVED_1("reserved_1"), // Never used (but reserved in Firefox)
-
     AUTODETECT("autodetect"), // Proxy auto-detection (presumably with WPAD)
-    SYSTEM("system"), // Use system settings (default on Linux)
-
-    UNSPECIFIED("unspecified");
+    SYSTEM("system"), // Use system settings
+    UNSPECIFIED("unspecified"); // This must be changed before using
 
     private final String type;
 
@@ -127,7 +120,9 @@ public Proxy(Map<String, ?> raw) {
   public Map<String, Object> toJson() {
     Map<String, Object> m = new HashMap<>();
 
-    if (proxyType != ProxyType.UNSPECIFIED) {
+    if (proxyType == ProxyType.UNSPECIFIED) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("proxyType must be specified before use");
+    } else {
       m.put(PROXY_TYPE, proxyType.toString());
     }
     if (ftpProxy != null) {
@@ -165,7 +160,7 @@ public Map<String, Object> toJson() {
 
   /**
    * Gets the {@link ProxyType}. This can signal if set to use a direct connection (without proxy),
-   * manually set proxy settings, auto-configured proxy settings, or whether to use the default
+   * manually set proxy settings, autoconfigured proxy settings, or whether to use the default
    * system proxy settings. It defaults to {@link ProxyType#UNSPECIFIED}.
    *
    * @return the proxy type employed
@@ -198,7 +193,7 @@ public boolean isAutodetect() {
   /**
    * Specifies whether to autodetect proxy settings.
    *
-   * @param autodetect set to true to use proxy auto detection, false to leave proxy settings
+   * @param autodetect set to true to use proxy auto-detection, false to leave proxy settings
    *     unspecified
    * @return reference to self
    */
@@ -455,7 +450,6 @@ public String toString() {
         builder.append("pac: ").append(getProxyAutoconfigUrl());
         break;
 
-      case RESERVED_1:
       case UNSPECIFIED:
         break;
     }
diff --git a/py/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.py b/py/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.py
index 145b5fb9548c9..ac0c36b4b71fe 100644
--- a/py/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.py
+++ b/py/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.py
@@ -17,28 +17,17 @@
 """The Proxy implementation."""
 
 
-class ProxyTypeFactory:
-    """Factory for proxy types."""
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def make(ff_value, string):
-        return {"ff_value": ff_value, "string": string}
-
-
 class ProxyType:
     """Set of possible types of proxy.
 
-    Each proxy type has 2 properties:    'ff_value' is value of Firefox
     profile preference,    'string' is id of proxy type.
     """
 
-    DIRECT = ProxyTypeFactory.make(0, "DIRECT")  # Direct connection, no proxy (default on Windows).
-    MANUAL = ProxyTypeFactory.make(1, "MANUAL")  # Manual proxy settings (e.g., for httpProxy).
-    PAC = ProxyTypeFactory.make(2, "PAC")  # Proxy autoconfiguration from URL.
-    RESERVED_1 = ProxyTypeFactory.make(3, "RESERVED1")  # Never used.
-    AUTODETECT = ProxyTypeFactory.make(4, "AUTODETECT")  # Proxy autodetection (presumably with WPAD).
-    SYSTEM = ProxyTypeFactory.make(5, "SYSTEM")  # Use system settings (default on Linux).
-    UNSPECIFIED = ProxyTypeFactory.make(6, "UNSPECIFIED")  # Not initialized (for internal use).
+    DIRECT = "DIRECT"  # Direct connection, no proxy
+    MANUAL = "MANUAL"  # Manual proxy settings (e.g., for httpProxy).
+    PAC = "PAC"  # Proxy autoconfiguration from URL.
+    AUTODETECT = "AUTODETECT"  # Proxy auto-detection (presumably with WPAD).
+    SYSTEM = "SYSTEM"  # Use system settings
 
     @classmethod
     def load(cls, value):
@@ -46,9 +35,8 @@ def load(cls, value):
             value = value["string"]
         value = str(value).upper()
         for attr in dir(cls):
-            attr_value = getattr(cls, attr)
-            if isinstance(attr_value, dict) and "string" in attr_value and attr_value["string"] == value:
-                return attr_value
+            if getattr(cls, attr) == value:
+                return value
         raise Exception(f"No proxy type is found for {value}")
 
 
@@ -72,7 +60,7 @@ class Proxy:
     """Proxy contains information about proxy type and necessary proxy
     settings."""
 
-    proxyType = ProxyType.UNSPECIFIED
+    proxyType = None
     autodetect = False
     ftpProxy = ""
     httpProxy = ""
@@ -281,13 +269,15 @@ def proxy_type(self, value) -> None:
         self.proxyType = value
 
     def _verify_proxy_type_compatibility(self, compatible_proxy):
-        if self.proxyType not in (ProxyType.UNSPECIFIED, compatible_proxy):
+        if self.proxyType not in (None, compatible_proxy):
             raise ValueError(
                 f"Specified proxy type ({compatible_proxy}) not compatible with current setting ({self.proxyType})"
             )
 
     def to_capabilities(self):
-        proxy_caps = {"proxyType": self.proxyType["string"].lower()}
+        if not self.proxyType:
+            raise ValueError("proxyType must be specified before use")
+        proxy_caps = {"proxyType": self.proxyType.lower()}
         proxies = [
             "autodetect",
             "ftpProxy",
diff --git a/py/test/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy_tests.py b/py/test/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy_tests.py
index 3ec0946c874a1..7e748565488a9 100644
--- a/py/test/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy_tests.py
+++ b/py/test/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy_tests.py
@@ -120,9 +120,9 @@ def test_can_init_pacproxy():
     assert PAC_PROXY["proxyAutoconfigUrl"] == proxy.proxy_autoconfig_url
 
 
-def test_can_init_empty_proxy():
+def test_errors_on_empty_proxy():
     proxy = Proxy()
-    assert ProxyType.UNSPECIFIED == proxy.proxy_type
+    assert proxy.proxy_type is None
     assert "" == proxy.http_proxy
     assert "" == proxy.ftp_proxy
     assert "" == proxy.no_proxy
@@ -135,8 +135,6 @@ def test_can_init_empty_proxy():
     assert proxy.socks_version is None
 
     options = ArgOptions()
-    options.proxy = proxy
 
-    proxy_capabilities = {}
-    proxy_capabilities["proxyType"] = "unspecified"
-    assert proxy_capabilities == options.to_capabilities().get("proxy")
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        options.proxy = proxy
diff --git a/rb/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.rb b/rb/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.rb
index 9ea94c0dfb294..2548190a405fb 100644
--- a/rb/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.rb
+++ b/rb/lib/selenium/webdriver/common/proxy.rb
@@ -21,11 +21,11 @@ module Selenium
   module WebDriver
     class Proxy
       TYPES = {
-        direct: 'DIRECT', # Direct connection, no proxy (default on Windows).
+        direct: 'DIRECT', # Direct connection, no proxy.
         manual: 'MANUAL', # Manual proxy settings (e.g., for httpProxy).
         pac: 'PAC', # Proxy autoconfiguration from URL.
-        auto_detect: 'AUTODETECT', # Proxy autodetection (presumably with WPAD).
-        system: 'SYSTEM' # Use system settings (default on Linux).
+        auto_detect: 'AUTODETECT', # Proxy auto-detection (presumably with WPAD).
+        system: 'SYSTEM' # Use system settings.
       }.freeze
 
       ALLOWED = {type: 'proxyType',
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ class Proxy
 
       def self.json_create(data)
         data['proxyType'] = data['proxyType'].downcase.to_sym
-        return if data['proxyType'] == :unspecified
 
         proxy = new
 
diff --git a/rb/spec/unit/selenium/webdriver/proxy_spec.rb b/rb/spec/unit/selenium/webdriver/proxy_spec.rb
index 4dd76c9e2325b..06d481bdae20c 100644
--- a/rb/spec/unit/selenium/webdriver/proxy_spec.rb
+++ b/rb/spec/unit/selenium/webdriver/proxy_spec.rb
@@ -118,10 +118,6 @@ module WebDriver
 
         expect(proxy).to eq(other)
       end
-
-      it 'deserializes to nil if proxyType is UNSPECIFIED' do
-        expect(described_class.json_create('proxyType' => 'UNSPECIFIED')).to be_nil
-      end
     end
   end # WebDriver
 end # Selenium