You cannot change a vendor type of Employee Vendor to another vendor type

Hello, everyone.

We have an ex-employee which became a supplier once he left the company. He is currently configured in the Suppliers Master Catalog (Payables) as "Employee", in the Vendor Type field. We need to start using this record as a regular supplier, but when I try to change the vendor type, I receive the following message: "You cannot change a vendor type of Employee Vendor to another vendor type".

I am plenty sure this is an intended functionality; however I would like to know what I should do in my situation. Should I inactivate the current Supplier (Vendor Type = Employee) and create a new one? Or is there another option?