diff --git a/Makefile-ostree.am b/Makefile-ostree.am
index 86b6be01..a74603b3 100644
--- a/Makefile-ostree.am
+++ b/Makefile-ostree.am
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ ostree_SOURCES = src/ostree/main.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-builtin-reset.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-builtin-rev-parse.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-builtin-show.c \
-	src/ostree/ot-builtin-write-refs.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-main.h \
 	src/ostree/ot-main.c \
 	src/ostree/ot-dump.h \
diff --git a/src/ostree/main.c b/src/ostree/main.c
index 3e164f9e..c863252d 100644
--- a/src/ostree/main.c
+++ b/src/ostree/main.c
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ static OstreeCommand commands[] = {
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBSOUP 
   { "trivial-httpd", ostree_builtin_trivial_httpd, OSTREE_BUILTIN_FLAG_NO_REPO },
 #endif
-  { "write-refs", ostree_builtin_write_refs, 0 },
   { NULL }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-write-refs.c b/src/ostree/ot-builtin-write-refs.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 6a6ed3f7..00000000
--- a/src/ostree/ot-builtin-write-refs.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,95 +0,0 @@
-/* -*- mode: C; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
- *
- * Copyright (C) 2011 Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
- *
- * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
- * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
- * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
- * Lesser General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
- * License along with this library; if not, write to the
- * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
- * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
- *
- * Author: Colin Walters <walters@verbum.org>
- */
-
-#include "config.h"
-
-#include <gio/gunixoutputstream.h>
-#include <gio/gunixinputstream.h>
-
-#include "ot-builtins.h"
-#include "ostree.h"
-#include "otutil.h"
-
-static GOptionEntry options[] = {
-  { NULL }
-};
-
-gboolean
-ostree_builtin_write_refs (int argc, char **argv, OstreeRepo *repo, GCancellable *cancellable, GError **error)
-{
-  GOptionContext *context;
-  gboolean ret = FALSE;
-  GError *temp_error = NULL;
-  gsize len;
-  gs_unref_object GInputStream *instream = NULL;
-  gs_unref_object GDataInputStream *datastream = NULL;
-  gs_free char *line = NULL;
-
-  context = g_option_context_new ("Import newline-separated pairs of REF REVISION");
-  g_option_context_add_main_entries (context, options, NULL);
-
-  if (!g_option_context_parse (context, &argc, &argv, error))
-    goto out;
-
-  instream = (GInputStream*)g_unix_input_stream_new (0, FALSE);
-  datastream = g_data_input_stream_new (instream);
-
-  if (!ostree_repo_prepare_transaction (repo, NULL, cancellable, error))
-    goto out;
-
-  while ((line = g_data_input_stream_read_line (datastream, &len,
-                                                cancellable, &temp_error)) != NULL)
-    {
-      const char *spc = strchr (line, ' ');
-      gs_free char *ref = NULL;
-
-      if (!spc || spc == line)
-        {
-          g_set_error (error, G_IO_ERROR, G_IO_ERROR_FAILED,
-                       "Invalid ref input");
-          goto out;
-        }
-
-      ref = g_strndup (line, spc - line);
-      if (!ostree_validate_structureof_checksum_string (spc + 1, error))
-        goto out;
-
-      ostree_repo_transaction_set_ref (repo, NULL, ref, spc + 1);
-
-      g_free (line);
-    }
-  if (temp_error)
-    {
-      g_propagate_error (error, temp_error);
-      goto out;
-    }
-
-  if (!ostree_repo_commit_transaction (repo, NULL, cancellable, error))
-    goto out;
-
-  ret = TRUE;
- out:
-  if (context)
-    g_option_context_free (context);
-  ostree_repo_abort_transaction (repo, cancellable, NULL);
-  return ret;
-}