diff --git a/lib/pleroma/user.ex b/lib/pleroma/user.ex
index 3f729fdcc..0706f5607 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/user.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/user.ex
@@ -2135,15 +2135,6 @@ defmodule Pleroma.User do
 
   def public_key(_), do: {:error, "key not found"}
 
-  def get_or_fetch_public_key_for_ap_id(ap_id) do
-    with {:ok, %User{} = user} <- get_or_fetch_by_ap_id(ap_id),
-         {:ok, public_key} <- public_key(user) do
-      {:ok, public_key}
-    else
-      _ -> :error
-    end
-  end
-
   def get_public_key_for_ap_id(ap_id) do
     with %User{} = user <- get_cached_by_ap_id(ap_id),
          {:ok, public_key} <- public_key(user) do
diff --git a/test/pleroma/user_test.exs b/test/pleroma/user_test.exs
index c0b576c3c..77ca9198b 100644
--- a/test/pleroma/user_test.exs
+++ b/test/pleroma/user_test.exs
@@ -1951,11 +1951,6 @@ defmodule Pleroma.UserTest do
     end
   end
 
-  test "get_or_fetch_public_key_for_ap_id fetches a user that's not in the db" do
-    assert {:ok, _key} =
-             User.get_or_fetch_public_key_for_ap_id("http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin")
-  end
-
   test "get_public_key_for_ap_id returns correctly for user that's not in the db" do
     assert :error = User.get_public_key_for_ap_id("http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin")
   end