diff --git a/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xddf/usermodel/chart/XDDFCategoryAxis.java b/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xddf/usermodel/chart/XDDFCategoryAxis.java
index bbdccedb13..a52b2a8970 100644
--- a/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xddf/usermodel/chart/XDDFCategoryAxis.java
+++ b/poi-ooxml/src/main/java/org/apache/poi/xddf/usermodel/chart/XDDFCategoryAxis.java
@@ -221,8 +221,6 @@ public class XDDFCategoryAxis extends XDDFChartAxis {
         ctCatAx.addNewDelete();
         ctCatAx.addNewMajorTickMark();
         ctCatAx.addNewMinorTickMark();
-        ctCatAx.addNewNumFmt().setSourceLinked(true);
-        ctCatAx.getNumFmt().setFormatCode("");
 
         setPosition(position);
         setOrientation(AxisOrientation.MIN_MAX);