diff --git a/pkg/controller/service/BUILD b/pkg/controller/service/BUILD
index ddceb9e498c..398b8d295f2 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/service/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/controller/service/BUILD
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ go_library(
     srcs = [
         "controller.go",
         "doc.go",
-        "patch.go",
     ],
     importpath = "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/controller/service",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
@@ -39,7 +38,6 @@ go_test(
     name = "go_default_test",
     srcs = [
         "controller_test.go",
-        "patch_test.go",
     ],
     embed = [":go_default_library"],
     deps = [
diff --git a/pkg/controller/service/patch.go b/pkg/controller/service/patch.go
deleted file mode 100644
index ceb6221fdfb..00000000000
--- a/pkg/controller/service/patch.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,61 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package service
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-
-	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
-	v1core "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/typed/core/v1"
-)
-
-// patch patches service's Status or ObjectMeta given the origin and
-// updated ones. Change to spec will be ignored.
-func patch(c v1core.CoreV1Interface, oldSvc *v1.Service, newSvc *v1.Service) (*v1.Service, error) {
-	// Reset spec to make sure only patch for Status or ObjectMeta.
-	newSvc.Spec = oldSvc.Spec
-
-	patchBytes, err := getPatchBytes(oldSvc, newSvc)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return c.Services(oldSvc.Namespace).Patch(context.TODO(), oldSvc.Name, types.StrategicMergePatchType, patchBytes, metav1.PatchOptions{}, "status")
-}
-
-func getPatchBytes(oldSvc *v1.Service, newSvc *v1.Service) ([]byte, error) {
-	oldData, err := json.Marshal(oldSvc)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to Marshal oldData for svc %s/%s: %v", oldSvc.Namespace, oldSvc.Name, err)
-	}
-
-	newData, err := json.Marshal(newSvc)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to Marshal newData for svc %s/%s: %v", newSvc.Namespace, newSvc.Name, err)
-	}
-
-	patchBytes, err := strategicpatch.CreateTwoWayMergePatch(oldData, newData, v1.Service{})
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to CreateTwoWayMergePatch for svc %s/%s: %v", oldSvc.Namespace, oldSvc.Name, err)
-	}
-	return patchBytes, nil
-}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/service/patch_test.go b/pkg/controller/service/patch_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index a1f8e08c3a9..00000000000
--- a/pkg/controller/service/patch_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2019 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package service
-
-import (
-	"context"
-	"reflect"
-	"testing"
-
-	v1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
-	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/fake"
-)
-
-func addAnnotations(svc *v1.Service) {
-	svc.Annotations["foo"] = "bar"
-}
-
-func TestPatch(t *testing.T) {
-	svcOrigin := &v1.Service{
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:        "test-patch",
-			Annotations: map[string]string{},
-		},
-		Spec: v1.ServiceSpec{
-			ClusterIP: "10.0.0.1",
-		},
-	}
-	fakeCs := fake.NewSimpleClientset(svcOrigin)
-
-	// Issue a separate update and verify patch doesn't fail after this.
-	svcToUpdate := svcOrigin.DeepCopy()
-	addAnnotations(svcToUpdate)
-	if _, err := fakeCs.CoreV1().Services(svcOrigin.Namespace).Update(context.TODO(), svcToUpdate, metav1.UpdateOptions{}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Failed to update service: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Attempt to patch based the original service.
-	svcToPatch := svcOrigin.DeepCopy()
-	svcToPatch.Finalizers = []string{"foo"}
-	svcToPatch.Spec.ClusterIP = "10.0.0.2"
-	svcToPatch.Status = v1.ServiceStatus{
-		LoadBalancer: v1.LoadBalancerStatus{
-			Ingress: []v1.LoadBalancerIngress{
-				{IP: "8.8.8.8"},
-			},
-		},
-	}
-	svcPatched, err := patch(fakeCs.CoreV1(), svcOrigin, svcToPatch)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Failed to patch service: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Service returned by patch will contain latest content (e.g from
-	// the separate update).
-	addAnnotations(svcToPatch)
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(svcPatched, svcToPatch) {
-		t.Errorf("PatchStatus() = %+v, want %+v", svcPatched, svcToPatch)
-	}
-	// Explicitly validate if spec is unchanged from origin.
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(svcPatched.Spec, svcOrigin.Spec) {
-		t.Errorf("Got spec = %+v, want %+v", svcPatched.Spec, svcOrigin.Spec)
-	}
-}
-
-func TestGetPatchBytes(t *testing.T) {
-	origin := &v1.Service{
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:       "test-patch-bytes",
-			Finalizers: []string{"foo"},
-		},
-	}
-	updated := &v1.Service{
-		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:       "test-patch-bytes",
-			Finalizers: []string{"foo", "bar"},
-		},
-	}
-
-	b, err := getPatchBytes(origin, updated)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	expected := `{"metadata":{"$setElementOrder/finalizers":["foo","bar"],"finalizers":["bar"]}}`
-	if string(b) != expected {
-		t.Errorf("getPatchBytes(%+v, %+v) = %s ; want %s", origin, updated, string(b), expected)
-	}
-}