diff --git a/lib/commands/publish.js b/lib/commands/publish.js
index 08547b2163729..12614c335c4b7 100644
--- a/lib/commands/publish.js
+++ b/lib/commands/publish.js
@@ -224,16 +224,6 @@ class Publish extends BaseCommand {
     }
   }
 
-  async #latestDistTag (spec) {
-    try {
-      const tags = await DistTag.fetchTags(spec, this.npm.flatOptions)
-      return tags.latest
-    } catch (_e) {
-      // this will fail if the package is new, so just return null
-      return null
-    }
-  }
-
   // if it's a directory, read it from the file system
   // otherwise, get the full metadata from whatever it is
   // XXX can't pacote read the manifest from a directory?