diff --git a/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py b/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
index 3166f1163f3..c38b66f757d 100644
--- a/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
+++ b/neutron/agent/linux/utils.py
@@ -21,10 +21,8 @@ import pwd
 import shlex
 import socket
 import struct
-import tempfile
 import threading
 
-import debtcollector
 import eventlet
 from eventlet.green import subprocess
 from eventlet import greenthread
@@ -162,24 +160,6 @@ def get_interface_mac(interface):
                     for char in info[MAC_START:MAC_END]])[:-1]
 
 
-@debtcollector.removals.remove(message="Redundant in Mitaka release.")
-def replace_file(file_name, data, file_mode=0o644):
-    """Replaces the contents of file_name with data in a safe manner.
-
-    First write to a temp file and then rename. Since POSIX renames are
-    atomic, the file is unlikely to be corrupted by competing writes.
-
-    We create the tempfile on the same device to ensure that it can be renamed.
-    """
-
-    base_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(file_name))
-    tmp_file = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w+', dir=base_dir, delete=False)
-    tmp_file.write(data)
-    tmp_file.close()
-    os.chmod(tmp_file.name, file_mode)
-    os.rename(tmp_file.name, file_name)
-
-
 def find_child_pids(pid):
     """Retrieve a list of the pids of child processes of the given pid."""
 
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
index 7a53ee4dfe8..c93bc097249 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/agent/linux/test_utils.py
@@ -182,35 +182,6 @@ class AgentUtilsGetInterfaceMAC(base.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(actual_val, expect_val)
 
 
-class AgentUtilsReplaceFile(base.BaseTestCase):
-    def _test_replace_file_helper(self, explicit_perms=None):
-        # make file to replace
-        with mock.patch('tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile') as ntf:
-            ntf.return_value.name = '/baz'
-            with mock.patch('os.chmod') as chmod:
-                with mock.patch('os.rename') as rename:
-                    if explicit_perms is None:
-                        expected_perms = 0o644
-                        utils.replace_file('/foo', 'bar')
-                    else:
-                        expected_perms = explicit_perms
-                        utils.replace_file('/foo', 'bar', explicit_perms)
-
-                    expected = [mock.call('w+', dir='/', delete=False),
-                                mock.call().write('bar'),
-                                mock.call().close()]
-
-                    ntf.assert_has_calls(expected)
-                    chmod.assert_called_once_with('/baz', expected_perms)
-                    rename.assert_called_once_with('/baz', '/foo')
-
-    def test_replace_file_with_default_perms(self):
-        self._test_replace_file_helper()
-
-    def test_replace_file_with_0o600_perms(self):
-        self._test_replace_file_helper(0o600)
-
-
 class TestFindChildPids(base.BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_returns_empty_list_for_exit_code_1(self):