diff --git a/java/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequence.java b/java/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequence.java
index 3919622aca..7429aa5c12 100644
--- a/java/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequence.java
+++ b/java/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequence.java
@@ -238,31 +238,6 @@ public class RepoSequence {
     }
   }
 
-  public void increaseTo(int val) {
-    counterLock.lock();
-    try {
-      try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(projectName);
-          RevWalk rw = new RevWalk(repo)) {
-        TryIncreaseTo attempt = new TryIncreaseTo(repo, rw, val);
-        RefUpdate ru = retryer.call(attempt);
-        // Null update is a sentinel meaning nothing to do.
-        if (ru != null) {
-          RefUpdateUtil.checkResult(ru);
-        }
-        counter = limit;
-      } catch (ExecutionException | RetryException e) {
-        if (e.getCause() != null) {
-          Throwables.throwIfInstanceOf(e.getCause(), StorageException.class);
-        }
-        throw new StorageException(e);
-      } catch (IOException e) {
-        throw new StorageException(e);
-      }
-    } finally {
-      counterLock.unlock();
-    }
-  }
-
   private void acquire(int count) {
     try (Repository repo = repoManager.openRepository(projectName);
         RevWalk rw = new RevWalk(repo)) {
@@ -311,38 +286,6 @@ public class RepoSequence {
     }
   }
 
-  private class TryIncreaseTo implements Callable<RefUpdate> {
-    private final Repository repo;
-    private final RevWalk rw;
-    private final int value;
-
-    private TryIncreaseTo(Repository repo, RevWalk rw, int value) {
-      this.repo = repo;
-      this.rw = rw;
-      this.value = value;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public RefUpdate call() throws Exception {
-      Optional<IntBlob> blob = IntBlob.parse(repo, refName, rw);
-      afterReadRef.run();
-      ObjectId oldId;
-      if (!blob.isPresent()) {
-        oldId = ObjectId.zeroId();
-      } else {
-        oldId = blob.get().id();
-        int next = blob.get().value();
-        if (next >= value) {
-          // A concurrent write updated the ref already to this or a higher value; return null as a
-          // sentinel meaning nothing to do. Returning RefUpdate doesn't give us the flexibility to
-          // return any other kind of sentinel, since it's a fairly thick object.
-          return null;
-        }
-      }
-      return IntBlob.tryStore(repo, rw, projectName, refName, oldId, value, gitRefUpdated);
-    }
-  }
-
   public static ReceiveCommand storeNew(ObjectInserter ins, String name, int val)
       throws IOException {
     ObjectId newId = ins.insert(OBJ_BLOB, Integer.toString(val).getBytes(UTF_8));
diff --git a/javatests/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequenceTest.java b/javatests/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequenceTest.java
index b409b9d3ec..f088a79164 100644
--- a/javatests/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequenceTest.java
+++ b/javatests/com/google/gerrit/server/notedb/RepoSequenceTest.java
@@ -251,96 +251,6 @@ public class RepoSequenceTest {
     assertThat(s2.acquireCount).isEqualTo(1);
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void increaseTo() throws Exception {
-    // Seed existing ref value.
-    writeBlob("id", "1");
-
-    RepoSequence s = newSequence("id", 1, 10);
-
-    s.increaseTo(2);
-    assertThat(s.next()).isEqualTo(2);
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void increaseToLowerValueIsIgnored() throws Exception {
-    // Seed existing ref value.
-    writeBlob("id", "2");
-
-    RepoSequence s = newSequence("id", 1, 10);
-
-    s.increaseTo(1);
-    assertThat(s.next()).isEqualTo(2);
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void increaseToRetryOnLockFailureV1() throws Exception {
-    // Seed existing ref value.
-    writeBlob("id", "1");
-
-    AtomicBoolean doneBgUpdate = new AtomicBoolean(false);
-    Runnable bgUpdate =
-        () -> {
-          if (!doneBgUpdate.getAndSet(true)) {
-            writeBlob("id", "2");
-          }
-        };
-
-    RepoSequence s = newSequence("id", 1, 10, bgUpdate, RETRYER);
-    assertThat(doneBgUpdate.get()).isFalse();
-
-    // Increase the value to 3. The background thread increases the value to 2, which makes the
-    // increase to value 3 fail once with LockFailure. The increase to 3 is then retried and is
-    // expected to succeed.
-    s.increaseTo(3);
-    assertThat(s.next()).isEqualTo(3);
-
-    assertThat(doneBgUpdate.get()).isTrue();
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void increaseToRetryOnLockFailureV2() throws Exception {
-    // Seed existing ref value.
-    writeBlob("id", "1");
-
-    AtomicBoolean doneBgUpdate = new AtomicBoolean(false);
-    Runnable bgUpdate =
-        () -> {
-          if (!doneBgUpdate.getAndSet(true)) {
-            writeBlob("id", "3");
-          }
-        };
-
-    RepoSequence s = newSequence("id", 1, 10, bgUpdate, RETRYER);
-    assertThat(doneBgUpdate.get()).isFalse();
-
-    // Increase the value to 2. The background thread increases the value to 3, which makes the
-    // increase to value 2 fail with LockFailure. The increase to 2 is then not retried because the
-    // current value is already higher and it should be preserved.
-    s.increaseTo(2);
-    assertThat(s.next()).isEqualTo(3);
-
-    assertThat(doneBgUpdate.get()).isTrue();
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void increaseToFailAfterRetryerGivesUp() throws Exception {
-    AtomicInteger bgCounter = new AtomicInteger(1234);
-    RepoSequence s =
-        newSequence(
-            "id",
-            1,
-            10,
-            () -> writeBlob("id", Integer.toString(bgCounter.getAndAdd(1000))),
-            RetryerBuilder.<RefUpdate>newBuilder()
-                .withStopStrategy(StopStrategies.stopAfterAttempt(3))
-                .build());
-    StorageException thrown = assertThrows(StorageException.class, () -> s.increaseTo(2));
-    assertThat(thrown)
-        .hasMessageThat()
-        .contains("Failed to update refs/sequences/id: LOCK_FAILURE");
-  }
-
   private RepoSequence newSequence(String name, int start, int batchSize) {
     return newSequence(name, start, batchSize, Runnables.doNothing(), RETRYER);
   }