diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 0636ac053ff..53c280b0b7d 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -721,23 +721,10 @@ function create-master-pki {
 # After the first boot and on upgrade, these files exist on the master-pd
 # and should never be touched again (except perhaps an additional service
 # account, see NB below.) One exception is if METADATA_CLOBBERS_CONFIG is
-# enabled. In that case the basic_auth.csv file will be rewritten to make
-# sure it matches the metadata source of truth.
+# enabled.
 function create-master-auth {
   echo "Creating master auth files"
   local -r auth_dir="/etc/srv/kubernetes"
-  local -r basic_auth_csv="${auth_dir}/basic_auth.csv"
-  if [[ -n "${KUBE_PASSWORD:-}" && -n "${KUBE_USER:-}" ]]; then
-    if [[ -e "${basic_auth_csv}" && "${METADATA_CLOBBERS_CONFIG:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
-      # If METADATA_CLOBBERS_CONFIG is true, we want to rewrite the file
-      # completely, because if we're changing KUBE_USER and KUBE_PASSWORD, we
-      # have nothing to match on.  The file is replaced just below with
-      # append_or_replace_prefixed_line.
-      rm "${basic_auth_csv}"
-    fi
-    append_or_replace_prefixed_line "${basic_auth_csv}" "${KUBE_PASSWORD},${KUBE_USER},"      "admin,system:masters"
-  fi
-
   local -r known_tokens_csv="${auth_dir}/known_tokens.csv"
   if [[ -e "${known_tokens_csv}" && "${METADATA_CLOBBERS_CONFIG:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
     rm "${known_tokens_csv}"