diff --git a/lib/commands/publish.js b/lib/commands/publish.js
index 12614c335c4b7..c1426231397a1 100644
--- a/lib/commands/publish.js
+++ b/lib/commands/publish.js
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ const { getContents, logTar } = require('../utils/tar.js')
 const { flatten } = require('@npmcli/config/lib/definitions')
 const pkgJson = require('@npmcli/package-json')
 const BaseCommand = require('../base-cmd.js')
-const DistTag = require('./dist-tag.js')
 
 class Publish extends BaseCommand {
   static description = 'Publish a package'