diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
index 4646da7600ecf..b7576dda72f24 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
@@ -36,14 +36,3 @@ if [[ "$DISABLE_BOOTSTRAP_VALIDATION" != "true" ]]; then
   check_for_changed_files 'yarn kbn bootstrap'
 fi
 
-###
-### upload ts-refs-cache artifacts as quickly as possible so they are available for download
-###
-if [[ "${BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_CAPTURE:-}" == "true" ]]; then
-  echo "--- Build ts-refs-cache"
-  node scripts/build_ts_refs.js --ignore-type-failures
-  echo "--- Upload ts-refs-cache"
-  cd "$KIBANA_DIR/target/ts_refs_cache"
-  gsutil cp "*.zip" 'gs://kibana-ci-ts-refs-cache/'
-  cd "$KIBANA_DIR"
-fi
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/common/env.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/common/env.sh
index f80acae365d4e..4485854d789e1 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/common/env.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/common/env.sh
@@ -106,11 +106,6 @@ export GCS_UPLOAD_PREFIX=FAKE_UPLOAD_PREFIX # TODO remove the need for this
 
 export KIBANA_BUILD_LOCATION="$WORKSPACE/kibana-build-xpack"
 
-if [[ "${BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE:-}" != "true" ]]; then
-  export BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE=false
-fi
-
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=true
 export DISABLE_BOOTSTRAP_VALIDATION=true
 
 # Prevent Browserlist from logging on CI about outdated database versions
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/functional/osquery_cypress.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/functional/osquery_cypress.sh
index 02766e0530bfb..185117718737f 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/functional/osquery_cypress.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/functional/osquery_cypress.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 source .buildkite/scripts/common/util.sh
 
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=false
 .buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
 node scripts/build_kibana_platform_plugins.js
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/lint_with_types.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/lint_with_types.sh
index 81d5ef03f4989..c8c8e9446b76f 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/lint_with_types.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/lint_with_types.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 source .buildkite/scripts/common/util.sh
 
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=false
 .buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
 
 echo '--- Lint: eslint (with types)'
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/on_merge_ts_refs_api_docs.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/on_merge_ts_refs_api_docs.sh
index 5659db50e1404..f2360e58851db 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/on_merge_ts_refs_api_docs.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/on_merge_ts_refs_api_docs.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 
 export BAZEL_CACHE_MODE=buildbuddy # Populate Buildbuddy bazel remote cache for linux
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE=true
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_CAPTURE=true
 export DISABLE_BOOTSTRAP_VALIDATION=true
-export BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=false
 
 .buildkite/scripts/bootstrap.sh
 
diff --git a/.ci/Jenkinsfile_baseline_capture b/.ci/Jenkinsfile_baseline_capture
index 8318998618ee9..79ba63fb63ae5 100644
--- a/.ci/Jenkinsfile_baseline_capture
+++ b/.ci/Jenkinsfile_baseline_capture
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@ kibanaPipeline(timeoutMinutes: 210) {
             ) {
               withGcpServiceAccount.fromVaultSecret('secret/kibana-issues/dev/ci-artifacts-key', 'value') {
                 withEnv([
-                  'BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=false', // disabled in root config so we need to override that here
-                  'BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_ENABLE=true',
-                  'BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_CAPTURE=true',
                   'DISABLE_BOOTSTRAP_VALIDATION=true',
                 ]) {
                   kibanaPipeline.doSetup()
diff --git a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
index 18f11fa7f16e4..aeb0ba75a9052 100755
--- a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
+++ b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
@@ -16,15 +16,6 @@ echo " -- TEST_ES_SNAPSHOT_VERSION='$TEST_ES_SNAPSHOT_VERSION'"
 echo " -- installing node.js dependencies"
 yarn kbn bootstrap --verbose
 
-###
-### upload ts-refs-cache artifacts as quickly as possible so they are available for download
-###
-if [[ "$BUILD_TS_REFS_CACHE_CAPTURE" == "true" ]]; then
-  cd "$KIBANA_DIR/target/ts_refs_cache"
-  gsutil cp "*.zip" 'gs://kibana-ci-ts-refs-cache/'
-  cd "$KIBANA_DIR"
-fi
-
 ###
 ### Download es snapshots
 ###
diff --git a/vars/workers.groovy b/vars/workers.groovy
index d95c3fdbb1b44..ea67ce415738f 100644
--- a/vars/workers.groovy
+++ b/vars/workers.groovy
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@ def base(Map params, Closure closure) {
       "GIT_COMMIT=${checkoutInfo.commit}",
       "GIT_BRANCH=${checkoutInfo.branch}",
       "TMPDIR=${env.WORKSPACE}/tmp", // For Chrome and anything else that respects it
-      "BUILD_TS_REFS_DISABLE=true", // no need to build ts refs in bootstrap
     ]) {
       withCredentials([
         string(credentialsId: 'vault-addr', variable: 'VAULT_ADDR'),