diff --git a/earthkit/data/readers/grib/xarray.py b/earthkit/data/readers/grib/xarray.py
index f7ae1c6d..131ad30c 100644
--- a/earthkit/data/readers/grib/xarray.py
+++ b/earthkit/data/readers/grib/xarray.py
@@ -131,7 +131,6 @@ def to_xarray(self, **kwargs):
                 default=default,
                 forced={
                     "errors": "raise",
-                    "engine": "cfgrib",
                 },
             )
         )