diff --git a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst b/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst
index 0d6a02bee5..20c650cf35 100644
--- a/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst
+++ b/docs/src/whatsnew/latest.rst
@@ -138,6 +138,9 @@ This document explains the changes made to Iris for this release
 #. `@rcomer`_ modified the ``animation`` test to prevent it throwing a warning
    that sometimes interferes with unrelated tests. (:pull:`4330`)
 
+#. `@rcomer`_ removed a now redundant workaround in :func:`~iris.plot.contourf`.
+   (:pull:`4349`)
+
 
 .. comment
     Whatsnew author names (@github name) in alphabetical order. Note that,
diff --git a/lib/iris/plot.py b/lib/iris/plot.py
index 1b1c4dc774..1db60d0fae 100644
--- a/lib/iris/plot.py
+++ b/lib/iris/plot.py
@@ -1089,17 +1089,6 @@ def contourf(cube, *args, **kwargs):
             zorder = result.collections[0].zorder - 0.1
             axes = kwargs.get("axes", None)
 
-            # Workaround for cartopy#1780.  We do not want contour to shrink
-            # extent.
-            if axes is None:
-                _axes = plt.gca()
-            else:
-                _axes = axes
-
-            # Subsequent calls to dataLim.update_from_data_xy should not ignore
-            # current extent.
-            _axes.dataLim.ignore(False)
-
             contour(
                 cube,
                 levels=levels,