diff --git a/src/irmin-test/store.ml b/src/irmin-test/store.ml
index 75146e510d..03ff93d323 100644
--- a/src/irmin-test/store.ml
+++ b/src/irmin-test/store.ml
@@ -1301,13 +1301,6 @@ module Make (S : Generic_key) = struct
 
       (* Testing other tree operations. *)
       let v0 = S.Tree.empty () in
-      let b0 = S.Tree.is_val v0 [] in
-      Alcotest.(check bool) "empty is_val /" true b0;
-      let b0 = S.Tree.is_val v0 [ "foo" ] in
-      Alcotest.(check bool) "empty is_val /foo" true b0;
-      let b0 = S.Tree.is_val v0 [ "foo"; "bar" ] in
-      Alcotest.(check bool) "empty is_val /foo/bar" true b0;
-
       let* c = S.Tree.to_concrete v0 in
       (match c with
       | `Tree [] -> ()
diff --git a/src/irmin/tree.ml b/src/irmin/tree.ml
index d610d8f36e..e29ab3ee45 100644
--- a/src/irmin/tree.ml
+++ b/src/irmin/tree.ml
@@ -320,8 +320,6 @@ module Make (P : Backend.S) = struct
               if cache then c.info.ptr <- Hash h;
               h)
 
-    let is_val t = match cached_value t with None -> false | Some _ -> true
-
     let key t =
       match t.v with Key (_, k) -> Some k | Value _ | Pruned _ -> None
 
@@ -1229,24 +1227,6 @@ module Make (P : Backend.S) = struct
 
     let findv = findv_aux ~value_of_key ~return:Lwt.return ~bind:Lwt.bind
 
-    exception Lazy
-
-    let findv' ctx t k =
-      match
-        findv_aux ~cache:false
-          ~value_of_key:(fun ~cache:_ _ _ _ -> raise Lazy)
-          ~return:Fun.id
-          ~bind:(fun x f -> f x)
-          ctx t k
-      with
-      | exception Lazy -> None
-      | e -> e
-
-    let is_val t =
-      match (cached_map t, cached_value t) with
-      | None, None -> false
-      | _ -> true
-
     let seq_of_map ?(offset = 0) ?length m : (step * elt) Seq.t =
       let take seq =
         match length with None -> seq | Some n -> Seq.take n seq
@@ -1711,18 +1691,6 @@ module Make (P : Backend.S) = struct
     | `Node n -> (aux [@tailcall]) n path
     | `Contents _ -> Lwt.return_none
 
-  let is_val t path =
-    let rec aux node path =
-      match Path.decons path with
-      | None -> Node.is_val node
-      | Some (h, p) -> (
-          match Node.findv' "is_val" node h with
-          | None -> true
-          | Some (`Contents (c, _)) -> Contents.is_val c
-          | Some (`Node n) -> aux n p)
-    in
-    match t with `Node n -> aux n path | `Contents (c, _) -> Contents.is_val c
-
   let find_tree (t : t) path =
     let cache = true in
     [%log.debug "Tree.find_tree %a" pp_path path];
diff --git a/src/irmin/tree_intf.ml b/src/irmin/tree_intf.ml
index be47a41f58..f3ee5a7659 100644
--- a/src/irmin/tree_intf.ml
+++ b/src/irmin/tree_intf.ml
@@ -82,12 +82,6 @@ module type S = sig
   (** [is_empty t] is true iff [t] is {!empty} (i.e. a tree node with no
       children). Trees with {!kind} = [`Contents] are never considered empty. *)
 
-  val is_val : t -> path -> bool
-  (** [is_val t k] is [true] iff the path [k] has already been forced in [t]. In
-      that case, that means that all the nodes traversed by [k] are loaded in
-      memory. If the leaf node is a contents [c], then [Contents.is_val c]
-      should also be [true]. *)
-
   (** {1 Diffs} *)
 
   val diff : t -> t -> (path * (contents * metadata) Diff.t) list Lwt.t
@@ -134,10 +128,6 @@ module type S = sig
     (** Equivalent to {!val-force}, but raises an exception if the lazy content
         value is not present in the underlying repository. *)
 
-    val is_val : t -> bool
-    (** [is_val x] is [true] iff [x] has already been forced (and so is loaded
-        in memory). *)
-
     val clear : t -> unit
     (** [clear t] clears [t]'s cache. *)