diff --git a/changelog.d/5-internal/remove-unused-datatype b/changelog.d/5-internal/remove-unused-datatype
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4af5dc9c39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/5-internal/remove-unused-datatype
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove unused data type AllowedUserSearch
diff --git a/services/brig/src/Brig/Options.hs b/services/brig/src/Brig/Options.hs
index 5ee626d9a7..23e535135c 100644
--- a/services/brig/src/Brig/Options.hs
+++ b/services/brig/src/Brig/Options.hs
@@ -359,28 +359,6 @@ instance ToSchema ListAllSFTServers where
           element "disabled" HideAllSFTServers
         ]
 
-data AllowedUserSearch
-  = NoSearch
-  | ExactHandleSearch
-  | FullSearch
-  deriving (Show, Generic, Enum, Bounded)
-
-instance ToJSON AllowedUserSearch where
-  toJSON NoSearch = "no_search"
-  toJSON ExactHandleSearch = "exact_handle_search"
-  toJSON FullSearch = "full_search"
-
-instance FromJSON AllowedUserSearch where
-  parseJSON = withText "AllowedUserSearch" $ \case
-    "no_search" -> pure NoSearch
-    "exact_handle_search" -> pure ExactHandleSearch
-    "full_search" -> pure FullSearch
-    _ ->
-      fail $
-        "unexpected value for AllowedUserSearch settings: "
-          <> "expected one of "
-          <> show (Aeson.encode <$> [(minBound :: AllowedUserSearch) ..])
-
 data FederationDomainConfig = FederationDomainConfig
   { domain :: Domain,
     cfgSearchPolicy :: FederatedUserSearchPolicy