diff --git a/rewrite-core/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/rpc/RpcRecipe.java b/rewrite-core/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/rpc/RpcRecipe.java
index df0cd7b172..760cf5af02 100644
--- a/rewrite-core/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/rpc/RpcRecipe.java
+++ b/rewrite-core/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/rpc/RpcRecipe.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import lombok.RequiredArgsConstructor;
 import org.jspecify.annotations.Nullable;
 import org.openrewrite.*;
-import org.openrewrite.config.OptionDescriptor;
 import org.openrewrite.config.RecipeDescriptor;
 import org.openrewrite.config.RecipeExample;
 import org.openrewrite.rpc.request.PrepareRecipeResponse;
@@ -30,8 +29,8 @@
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
+import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
 import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toList;
-import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toMap;
 
 
 @RequiredArgsConstructor
@@ -65,8 +64,8 @@ public class RpcRecipe extends ScanningRecipe<Integer> {
 
     /**
      * The prepared child recipe responses returned by the server as part of the whole-tree
-     * prepare response. When non-null and non-empty, {@link #getRecipeList()} builds children
-     * locally from these nodes instead of making individual PrepareRecipe RPC calls.
+     * prepare response. {@link #getRecipeList()} builds the children locally from these. Every
+     * RPC server populates this (an empty list for a leaf), so it is effectively required.
      */
     private final @Nullable List<PrepareRecipeResponse> childResponses;
 
@@ -134,21 +133,13 @@ public TreeVisitor<?, ExecutionContext> getVisitor(Integer acc) {
     @Override
     public synchronized List<Recipe> getRecipeList() {
         if (recipeList == null) {
-            if (childResponses != null) {
-                // Whole-tree: children were prepared in the parent's response; build locally, no RPC.
-                recipeList = childResponses.stream()
-                        .map(rpc::recipeFromPrepareResponse)
-                        .collect(toList());
-            } else {
-                // Fallback by-name path: peers whose servers don't yet return a prepared child tree
-                // (Python/JS/Go until updated). The C# server always takes the branch above.
-                // TODO(remove-fallback): delete this branch once every RPC server populates `recipeList`.
-                recipeList = descriptor.getRecipeList().stream()
-                        .map(r -> rpc.prepareRecipe(r.getName(), r.getOptions().stream()
-                                .filter(opt -> opt.getValue() != null)
-                                .collect(toMap(OptionDescriptor::getName, OptionDescriptor::getValue))))
-                        .collect(toList());
-            }
+            // Every RPC server returns the whole prepared tree, so build the children locally from
+            // the child responses — no individual PrepareRecipe RPC per child.
+            recipeList = requireNonNull(childResponses,
+                    "RPC server returned a recipe without a prepared child tree (recipeList)")
+                    .stream()
+                    .map(rpc::recipeFromPrepareResponse)
+                    .collect(toList());
         }
         return recipeList;
     }