diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/handlers.go b/pkg/apiserver/handlers.go
index eda608b5488..8e4cefb124d 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/handlers.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/handlers.go
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/meta"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/auth/authorizer"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/httplog"
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/sets"
 )
 
@@ -96,17 +95,6 @@ func MaxInFlightLimit(c chan bool, longRunningRequestRE *regexp.Regexp, handler
 	})
 }
 
-// RateLimit uses rl to rate limit accepting requests to 'handler'.
-func RateLimit(rl util.RateLimiter, handler http.Handler) http.Handler {
-	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-		if rl.CanAccept() {
-			handler.ServeHTTP(w, req)
-			return
-		}
-		tooManyRequests(w)
-	})
-}
-
 func tooManyRequests(w http.ResponseWriter) {
 	// Return a 429 status indicating "Too Many Requests"
 	w.Header().Set("Retry-After", RetryAfter)
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/handlers_test.go b/pkg/apiserver/handlers_test.go
index 1ef84b506b3..15d36f425b3 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/handlers_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/handlers_test.go
@@ -110,21 +110,6 @@ func TestMaxInFlight(t *testing.T) {
 	expectHTTP(server.URL, http.StatusOK, t)
 }
 
-func TestRateLimit(t *testing.T) {
-	for _, allow := range []bool{true, false} {
-		rl := fakeRL(allow)
-		server := httptest.NewServer(RateLimit(rl, http.HandlerFunc(
-			func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-				if !allow {
-					t.Errorf("Unexpected call")
-				}
-			},
-		)))
-		defer server.Close()
-		http.Get(server.URL)
-	}
-}
-
 func TestReadOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	server := httptest.NewServer(ReadOnly(http.HandlerFunc(
 		func(w http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {