diff --git a/.golangci.yaml b/.golangci.yaml
index bf37f1f3eb..1f96503e38 100644
--- a/.golangci.yaml
+++ b/.golangci.yaml
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ output:
 linters:
   disable-all: true
   enable:
-    # - deadcode
+    - deadcode
     - errcheck
     # - gofmt
     - gosimple
diff --git a/lib/resourcemerge/core.go b/lib/resourcemerge/core.go
index c220882e7c..01a2a74445 100644
--- a/lib/resourcemerge/core.go
+++ b/lib/resourcemerge/core.go
@@ -508,16 +508,6 @@ func ensureCapabilities(modified *bool, existing *corev1.Capabilities, required
 	}
 }
 
-func setStringSliceIfSet(modified *bool, existing *[]string, required []string) {
-	if required == nil {
-		return
-	}
-	if !equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(required, *existing) {
-		*existing = required
-		*modified = true
-	}
-}
-
 func setStringSlice(modified *bool, existing *[]string, required []string) {
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(required, *existing) {
 		*existing = required
diff --git a/lib/validation/validation.go b/lib/validation/validation.go
index 6c38c633be..93223a15ee 100644
--- a/lib/validation/validation.go
+++ b/lib/validation/validation.go
@@ -69,20 +69,6 @@ func countPayloadsForVersion(config *configv1.ClusterVersion, version string) in
 	return 0
 }
 
-func hasAmbiguousPayloadForVersion(config *configv1.ClusterVersion, version string) bool {
-	for _, update := range config.Status.AvailableUpdates {
-		if update.Version == version {
-			return len(update.Image) > 0
-		}
-	}
-	for _, history := range config.Status.History {
-		if history.Version == version {
-			return len(history.Image) > 0
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 func ClearInvalidFields(config *configv1.ClusterVersion, errs field.ErrorList) *configv1.ClusterVersion {
 	if len(errs) == 0 {
 		return config
diff --git a/pkg/cvo/cvo_test.go b/pkg/cvo/cvo_test.go
index f896c853f2..1a9f9cf415 100644
--- a/pkg/cvo/cvo_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cvo/cvo_test.go
@@ -3313,11 +3313,6 @@ func expectCreate(t *testing.T, a ktesting.Action, resource, namespace string, o
 	expectMutation(t, a, "create", resource, "", namespace, obj)
 }
 
-func expectUpdate(t *testing.T, a ktesting.Action, resource, namespace string, obj interface{}) {
-	t.Helper()
-	expectMutation(t, a, "update", resource, "", namespace, obj)
-}
-
 func expectUpdateStatus(t *testing.T, a ktesting.Action, resource, namespace string, obj interface{}) {
 	t.Helper()
 	expectMutation(t, a, "update", resource, "status", namespace, obj)
diff --git a/pkg/cvo/internal/generic.go b/pkg/cvo/internal/generic.go
index ba4305f2a6..62384853f6 100644
--- a/pkg/cvo/internal/generic.go
+++ b/pkg/cvo/internal/generic.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package internal
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/openshift/cluster-version-operator/lib/resourceapply"
@@ -10,10 +9,8 @@ import (
 	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/diff"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
-	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
 	"k8s.io/client-go/dynamic"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
@@ -152,15 +149,3 @@ func (b *genericBuilder) Do(ctx context.Context) error {
 	}
 	return err
 }
-
-func createPatch(original, modified runtime.Object) ([]byte, error) {
-	originalData, err := json.Marshal(original)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	modifiedData, err := json.Marshal(modified)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	return strategicpatch.CreateTwoWayMergePatch(originalData, modifiedData, original)
-}
diff --git a/pkg/cvo/internal/operatorstatus.go b/pkg/cvo/internal/operatorstatus.go
index 5c76a5eacb..cf7cb8057d 100644
--- a/pkg/cvo/internal/operatorstatus.go
+++ b/pkg/cvo/internal/operatorstatus.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
-	"unicode"
 
 	kerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -232,10 +231,3 @@ func checkOperatorHealth(ctx context.Context, client ClusterOperatorsGetter, exp
 
 	return nil
 }
-
-func lowerFirst(str string) string {
-	for i, v := range str {
-		return string(unicode.ToLower(v)) + str[i+1:]
-	}
-	return ""
-}
diff --git a/pkg/cvo/sync_worker.go b/pkg/cvo/sync_worker.go
index 4b1c29149b..38be867064 100644
--- a/pkg/cvo/sync_worker.go
+++ b/pkg/cvo/sync_worker.go
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"golang.org/x/time/rate"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
-	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
 	utilruntime "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -23,7 +22,6 @@ import (
 
 	configv1 "github.com/openshift/api/config/v1"
 
-	"github.com/openshift/cluster-version-operator/lib/resourcebuilder"
 	"github.com/openshift/cluster-version-operator/pkg/payload"
 	"github.com/openshift/cluster-version-operator/pkg/payload/precondition"
 	"github.com/openshift/library-go/pkg/manifest"
@@ -1072,16 +1070,6 @@ func getOverrideForManifest(overrides []configv1.ComponentOverride, manifest *ma
 	return configv1.ComponentOverride{}, false
 }
 
-// ownerKind contains the schema.GroupVersionKind for type that owns objects managed by CVO.
-var ownerKind = configv1.SchemeGroupVersion.WithKind("ClusterVersion")
-
-func ownerRefModifier(config *configv1.ClusterVersion) resourcebuilder.MetaV1ObjectModifierFunc {
-	oref := metav1.NewControllerRef(config, ownerKind)
-	return func(obj metav1.Object) {
-		obj.SetOwnerReferences([]metav1.OwnerReference{*oref})
-	}
-}
-
 // runThrottledStatusNotifier invokes fn every time ch is updated, but no more often than once
 // every interval. If bucket is non-zero then the channel is throttled like a rate limiter bucket.
 func runThrottledStatusNotifier(ctx context.Context, interval time.Duration, bucket int, ch <-chan SyncWorkerStatus, fn func()) {
diff --git a/pkg/payload/task_graph.go b/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
index 4ae4577484..d31c0847eb 100644
--- a/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
+++ b/pkg/payload/task_graph.go
@@ -386,15 +386,6 @@ func (g *TaskGraph) Tree() string {
 	return strings.Join(out, "\n")
 }
 
-func covers(all []int, some []int) bool {
-	for _, i := range some {
-		if all[i] == 0 {
-			return false
-		}
-	}
-	return true
-}
-
 func (g *TaskGraph) bulkAdd(nodes []*TaskNode, inNodes []int) []int {
 	from := len(g.Nodes)
 	g.Nodes = append(g.Nodes, nodes...)