diff --git a/internal/db/queries.go b/internal/db/queries.go
index a4a4c26..2974649 100644
--- a/internal/db/queries.go
+++ b/internal/db/queries.go
@@ -1118,28 +1118,6 @@ func (database *Database) PruneOldQueueEntries(
 	return deleted, nil
 }
 
-// PruneOrphanedMessages deletes messages that are no
-// longer referenced by any client_queues row and returns
-// the number of rows removed.
-func (database *Database) PruneOrphanedMessages(
-	ctx context.Context,
-) (int64, error) {
-	res, err := database.conn.ExecContext(ctx,
-		`DELETE FROM messages WHERE id NOT IN
-		 (SELECT DISTINCT message_id
-		  FROM client_queues)`,
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf(
-			"prune orphaned messages: %w", err,
-		)
-	}
-
-	deleted, _ := res.RowsAffected()
-
-	return deleted, nil
-}
-
 // RotateChannelMessages enforces MAX_HISTORY per channel
 // by deleting the oldest messages beyond the limit for
 // each msg_to target. Returns the total number of rows
diff --git a/internal/handlers/handlers.go b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
index 4876284..aa817db 100644
--- a/internal/handlers/handlers.go
+++ b/internal/handlers/handlers.go
@@ -245,18 +245,4 @@ func (hdlr *Handlers) pruneQueuesAndMessages(
 			)
 		}
 	}
-
-	orphaned, err := hdlr.params.Database.
-		PruneOrphanedMessages(ctx)
-	if err != nil {
-		hdlr.log.Error(
-			"orphan message cleanup failed",
-			"error", err,
-		)
-	} else if orphaned > 0 {
-		hdlr.log.Info(
-			"pruned orphaned messages",
-			"deleted", orphaned,
-		)
-	}
 }