diff --git a/src/handlers/http/logstream.rs b/src/handlers/http/logstream.rs
index e1b1b987a..0239c5fd0 100644
--- a/src/handlers/http/logstream.rs
+++ b/src/handlers/http/logstream.rs
@@ -568,8 +568,8 @@ pub async fn get_stream_info(stream_name: Path<String>) -> Result<impl Responder
         .get(&stream_name)
         .ok_or(StreamError::StreamNotFound(stream_name.clone()))?;
 
-    let stream_info: StreamInfo = StreamInfo {
-        stream_type: stream_meta.stream_type.clone(),
+    let stream_info = StreamInfo {
+        stream_type: stream_meta.stream_type,
         created_at: stream_meta.created_at.clone(),
         first_event_at: stream_first_event_at,
         time_partition: stream_meta.time_partition.clone(),
@@ -603,7 +603,10 @@ pub async fn put_stream_hot_tier(
         }
     }
 
-    if STREAM_INFO.stream_type(&stream_name).unwrap() == Some(StreamType::Internal.to_string()) {
+    if STREAM_INFO
+        .stream_type(&stream_name)
+        .is_ok_and(|t| t == StreamType::Internal)
+    {
         return Err(StreamError::Custom {
             msg: "Hot tier can not be updated for internal stream".to_string(),
             status: StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST,
@@ -686,7 +689,10 @@ pub async fn delete_stream_hot_tier(
         return Err(StreamError::HotTierNotEnabled(stream_name));
     };
 
-    if STREAM_INFO.stream_type(&stream_name).unwrap() == Some(StreamType::Internal.to_string()) {
+    if STREAM_INFO
+        .stream_type(&stream_name)
+        .is_ok_and(|t| t == StreamType::Internal)
+    {
         return Err(StreamError::Custom {
             msg: "Hot tier can not be deleted for internal stream".to_string(),
             status: StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST,
diff --git a/src/handlers/http/modal/query/querier_logstream.rs b/src/handlers/http/modal/query/querier_logstream.rs
index 622383964..0dcb5719b 100644
--- a/src/handlers/http/modal/query/querier_logstream.rs
+++ b/src/handlers/http/modal/query/querier_logstream.rs
@@ -167,8 +167,9 @@ pub async fn get_stats(
     let stats = stats::get_current_stats(&stream_name, "json")
         .ok_or(StreamError::StreamNotFound(stream_name.clone()))?;
 
-    let ingestor_stats = if STREAM_INFO.stream_type(&stream_name).unwrap()
-        == Some(StreamType::UserDefined.to_string())
+    let ingestor_stats = if STREAM_INFO
+        .stream_type(&stream_name)
+        .is_ok_and(|t| t == StreamType::Internal)
     {
         Some(fetch_stats_from_ingestors(&stream_name).await?)
     } else {
diff --git a/src/handlers/http/modal/utils/logstream_utils.rs b/src/handlers/http/modal/utils/logstream_utils.rs
index ab7726488..802b02751 100644
--- a/src/handlers/http/modal/utils/logstream_utils.rs
+++ b/src/handlers/http/modal/utils/logstream_utils.rs
@@ -485,10 +485,7 @@ pub async fn create_stream_and_schema_from_storage(stream_name: &str) -> Result<
             .and_then(|limit| limit.parse().ok());
         let custom_partition = stream_metadata.custom_partition.as_deref().unwrap_or("");
         let static_schema_flag = stream_metadata.static_schema_flag;
-        let stream_type = stream_metadata
-            .stream_type
-            .map(|s| StreamType::from(s.as_str()))
-            .unwrap_or_default();
+        let stream_type = stream_metadata.stream_type;
         let schema_version = stream_metadata.schema_version;
         let log_source = stream_metadata.log_source;
         metadata::STREAM_INFO.add_stream(
diff --git a/src/metadata.rs b/src/metadata.rs
index 87af45d65..4aa15e66d 100644
--- a/src/metadata.rs
+++ b/src/metadata.rs
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ pub struct LogStreamMetadata {
     pub custom_partition: Option<String>,
     pub static_schema_flag: bool,
     pub hot_tier_enabled: bool,
-    pub stream_type: Option<String>,
+    pub stream_type: StreamType,
     pub log_source: LogSource,
 }
 
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ impl StreamInfo {
             } else {
                 static_schema
             },
-            stream_type: Some(stream_type.to_string()),
+            stream_type,
             schema_version,
             log_source,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -357,16 +357,17 @@ impl StreamInfo {
         self.read()
             .expect(LOCK_EXPECT)
             .iter()
-            .filter(|(_, v)| v.stream_type.clone().unwrap() == StreamType::Internal.to_string())
+            .filter(|(_, v)| v.stream_type == StreamType::Internal)
             .map(|(k, _)| k.clone())
             .collect()
     }
 
-    pub fn stream_type(&self, stream_name: &str) -> Result<Option<String>, MetadataError> {
-        let map = self.read().expect(LOCK_EXPECT);
-        map.get(stream_name)
+    pub fn stream_type(&self, stream_name: &str) -> Result<StreamType, MetadataError> {
+        self.read()
+            .expect(LOCK_EXPECT)
+            .get(stream_name)
             .ok_or(MetadataError::StreamMetaNotFound(stream_name.to_string()))
-            .map(|metadata| metadata.stream_type.clone())
+            .map(|metadata| metadata.stream_type)
     }
 
     pub fn update_stats(
diff --git a/src/storage/mod.rs b/src/storage/mod.rs
index 7098b85d3..3a490617a 100644
--- a/src/storage/mod.rs
+++ b/src/storage/mod.rs
@@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ pub struct ObjectStoreFormat {
     pub static_schema_flag: bool,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub hot_tier_enabled: bool,
-    pub stream_type: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub stream_type: StreamType,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub log_source: LogSource,
 }
@@ -140,7 +141,8 @@ pub struct StreamInfo {
         skip_serializing_if = "std::ops::Not::not"
     )]
     pub static_schema_flag: bool,
-    pub stream_type: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub stream_type: StreamType,
     pub log_source: LogSource,
 }
 
@@ -205,7 +207,7 @@ impl Default for ObjectStoreFormat {
             version: CURRENT_SCHEMA_VERSION.to_string(),
             schema_version: SchemaVersion::V1, // Newly created streams should be v1
             objectstore_format: CURRENT_OBJECT_STORE_VERSION.to_string(),
-            stream_type: Some(StreamType::UserDefined.to_string()),
+            stream_type: StreamType::UserDefined,
             created_at: Local::now().to_rfc3339(),
             first_event_at: None,
             owner: Owner::new("".to_string(), "".to_string()),
diff --git a/src/storage/object_storage.rs b/src/storage/object_storage.rs
index 8c24ad2f9..b9dc59dcd 100644
--- a/src/storage/object_storage.rs
+++ b/src/storage/object_storage.rs
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ pub trait ObjectStorage: Debug + Send + Sync + 'static {
         let format = ObjectStoreFormat {
             created_at: Local::now().to_rfc3339(),
             permissions: vec![Permisssion::new(CONFIG.options.username.clone())],
-            stream_type: Some(stream_type.to_string()),
+            stream_type,
             time_partition: (!time_partition.is_empty()).then(|| time_partition.to_string()),
             time_partition_limit: time_partition_limit.map(|limit| limit.to_string()),
             custom_partition: (!custom_partition.is_empty()).then(|| custom_partition.to_string()),