diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.c b/src/basic/fs-util.c
index 7f8b8b22b3f..8a4943b8dd2 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.c
@@ -280,52 +280,6 @@ int fchmod_and_chown(int fd, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid) {
         return do_chown || do_chmod;
 }
 
-int chmod_and_chown_unsafe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid) {
-        bool do_chown, do_chmod;
-        struct stat st;
-
-        assert(path);
-
-        /* Change ownership and access mode of the specified path, see description of fchmod_and_chown().
-         * Should only be used on trusted paths. */
-
-        if (lstat(path, &st) < 0)
-                return -errno;
-
-        do_chown =
-                (uid != UID_INVALID && st.st_uid != uid) ||
-                (gid != GID_INVALID && st.st_gid != gid);
-
-        do_chmod =
-                !S_ISLNK(st.st_mode) && /* chmod is not defined on symlinks */
-                ((mode != MODE_INVALID && ((st.st_mode ^ mode) & 07777) != 0) ||
-                 do_chown); /* If we change ownership, make sure we reset the mode afterwards, since chown()
-                             * modifies the access mode too */
-
-        if (mode == MODE_INVALID)
-                mode = st.st_mode; /* If we only shall do a chown(), save original mode, since chown() might break it. */
-        else if ((mode & S_IFMT) != 0 && ((mode ^ st.st_mode) & S_IFMT) != 0)
-                return -EINVAL; /* insist on the right file type if it was specified */
-
-        if (do_chown && do_chmod) {
-                mode_t minimal = st.st_mode & mode; /* the subset of the old and the new mask */
-
-                if (((minimal ^ st.st_mode) & 07777) != 0)
-                        if (chmod(path, minimal & 07777) < 0)
-                                return -errno;
-        }
-
-        if (do_chown)
-                if (lchown(path, uid, gid) < 0)
-                        return -errno;
-
-        if (do_chmod)
-                if (chmod(path, mode & 07777) < 0)
-                        return -errno;
-
-        return do_chown || do_chmod;
-}
-
 int fchmod_umask(int fd, mode_t m) {
         mode_t u;
         int r;
diff --git a/src/basic/fs-util.h b/src/basic/fs-util.h
index b184570f9f4..eb6e1eee4fa 100644
--- a/src/basic/fs-util.h
+++ b/src/basic/fs-util.h
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ int readlink_and_make_absolute(const char *p, char **r);
 
 int chmod_and_chown(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid);
 int fchmod_and_chown(int fd, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid);
-int chmod_and_chown_unsafe(const char *path, mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid);
 
 int fchmod_umask(int fd, mode_t mode);
 int fchmod_opath(int fd, mode_t m);
diff --git a/src/test/test-fs-util.c b/src/test/test-fs-util.c
index f2df2e35e62..f63b1f5d5fa 100644
--- a/src/test/test-fs-util.c
+++ b/src/test/test-fs-util.c
@@ -802,50 +802,6 @@ static void test_chmod_and_chown(void) {
         assert_se(S_ISLNK(st.st_mode));
 }
 
-static void test_chmod_and_chown_unsafe(void) {
-        _cleanup_(rm_rf_physical_and_freep) char *d = NULL;
-        _unused_ _cleanup_umask_ mode_t u = umask(0000);
-        struct stat st;
-        const char *p;
-
-        if (geteuid() != 0)
-                return;
-
-        log_info("/* %s */", __func__);
-
-        assert_se(mkdtemp_malloc(NULL, &d) >= 0);
-
-        p = strjoina(d, "/reg");
-        assert_se(mknod(p, S_IFREG | 0123, 0) >= 0);
-
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFREG | 0321, 1, 2) >= 0);
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFDIR | 0555, 3, 4) == -EINVAL);
-
-        assert_se(lstat(p, &st) >= 0);
-        assert_se(S_ISREG(st.st_mode));
-        assert_se((st.st_mode & 07777) == 0321);
-
-        p = strjoina(d, "/dir");
-        assert_se(mkdir(p, 0123) >= 0);
-
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFDIR | 0321, 1, 2) >= 0);
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFREG | 0555, 3, 4) == -EINVAL);
-
-        assert_se(lstat(p, &st) >= 0);
-        assert_se(S_ISDIR(st.st_mode));
-        assert_se((st.st_mode & 07777) == 0321);
-
-        p = strjoina(d, "/lnk");
-        assert_se(symlink("idontexist", p) >= 0);
-
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFLNK | 0321, 1, 2) >= 0);
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFREG | 0555, 3, 4) == -EINVAL);
-        assert_se(chmod_and_chown_unsafe(p, S_IFDIR | 0555, 3, 4) == -EINVAL);
-
-        assert_se(lstat(p, &st) >= 0);
-        assert_se(S_ISLNK(st.st_mode));
-}
-
 static void test_path_is_encrypted_one(const char *p, int expect) {
         int r;
 
@@ -895,7 +851,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         test_fsync_directory_of_file();
         test_rename_noreplace();
         test_chmod_and_chown();
-        test_chmod_and_chown_unsafe();
         test_path_is_encrypted();
 
         return 0;