diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowPipelineTranslator.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowPipelineTranslator.java
index da3b3e7b6163..6f2953796fc7 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowPipelineTranslator.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowPipelineTranslator.java
@@ -428,7 +428,11 @@ public Job translate(List<DataflowPackage> packages) {
         environment.setDebugOptions(debugOptions);
       }
 
-      pipeline.traverseTopologically(this);
+      if (DataflowRunner.useUnifiedWorker(options)) {
+        LOG.info("Skipping v1 pipeline translation since this job will run on v2.");
+      } else {
+        pipeline.traverseTopologically(this);
+      }
 
       return job;
     }
diff --git a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowRunner.java b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowRunner.java
index d7f9ba61442e..fc73429ee150 100644
--- a/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowRunner.java
+++ b/runners/google-cloud-dataflow-java/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/dataflow/DataflowRunner.java
@@ -1225,9 +1225,14 @@ public DataflowPipelineJob run(Pipeline pipeline) {
     DataflowPackage stagedPipeline =
         options.getStager().stageToFile(serializedProtoPipeline, PIPELINE_FILE_NAME);
     dataflowOptions.setPipelineUrl(stagedPipeline.getLocation());
-    // Now rewrite things to be as needed for v1 (mutates the pipeline)
-    // This way the job submitted is valid for v1 and v2, simultaneously
-    replaceV1Transforms(pipeline);
+
+    if (useUnifiedWorker(options)) {
+      LOG.info("Skipping v1 transform replacements since job will run on v2.");
+    } else {
+      // Now rewrite things to be as needed for v1 (mutates the pipeline)
+      // This way the job submitted is valid for v1 and v2, simultaneously
+      replaceV1Transforms(pipeline);
+    }
     // Capture the SdkComponents for look up during step translations
     SdkComponents dataflowV1Components = SdkComponents.create();
     dataflowV1Components.registerEnvironment(