diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/cmp.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/cmp.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 0a8100d0639..00000000000
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/cmp.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-//go:build usegocmp
-// +build usegocmp
-
-/*
-Copyright 2025 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 diff
-
-import (
-	"github.com/google/go-cmp/cmp" //nolint:depguard
-)
-
-// Diff returns a string representation of the difference between two objects.
-// When built with the usegocmp tag, it uses go-cmp/cmp to generate a diff
-// between the objects.
-func Diff(a, b any) string {
-	return cmp.Diff(a, b)
-}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/complex_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/complex_test.go
index fb31513f090..18ac9336e2c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/complex_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/complex_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-//go:build !usegocmp
-// +build !usegocmp
-
 /*
 Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors.
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/diff.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/diff.go
index aed04524b65..036af327919 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/diff.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff/diff.go
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-//go:build !usegocmp
-// +build !usegocmp
-
 /*
 Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors.
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/go.mod
index d44d2de145b..80d1cf3961a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/code-generator/examples/go.mod
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.20.2 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.23.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gnostic-models v0.7.0 // indirect
-	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 // indirect
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/controller-manager/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/controller-manager/go.mod
index 64b1ba503e9..9b2dcfc18b5 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/controller-manager/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/controller-manager/go.mod
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4 // indirect
 	github.com/google/cel-go v0.26.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gnostic-models v0.7.0 // indirect
-	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-prometheus v1.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/grpc-ecosystem/grpc-gateway/v2 v2.26.3 // indirect
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
index 0bf29457609..9ed967f3ccc 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/sample-controller/go.mod
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.20.2 // indirect
 	github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.23.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/gnostic-models v0.7.0 // indirect
-	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 // indirect
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 // indirect