diff --git a/docs/spec/v1/gitrepositories.md b/docs/spec/v1/gitrepositories.md
index 5a634b7f..4e755973 100644
--- a/docs/spec/v1/gitrepositories.md
+++ b/docs/spec/v1/gitrepositories.md
@@ -433,24 +433,6 @@ GitRepository, and changes to the resource or in the Git repository will not
 result in a new Artifact. When the field is set to `false` or removed, it will
 resume.
 
-#### Optimized Git clones
-
-Optimized Git clones decreases resource utilization for GitRepository
-reconciliations.
-
-When enabled, it avoids full Git clone operations by first checking whether
-the revision of the last stored artifact is still the head of the remote
-repository and none of the other factors that contribute to a change in the
-artifact, like ignore rules and included repositories, have changed. If that is
-so, the reconciliation is skipped. Else, a full reconciliation is performed as
-usual.
-
-This feature is enabled by default. It can be disabled by starting the
-controller with the argument `--feature-gates=OptimizedGitClones=false`.
-
-NB: GitRepository objects configured for SemVer or Commit clones are
-not affected by this functionality.
-
 #### Proxy support
 
 When a proxy is configured in the source-controller Pod through the appropriate
diff --git a/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller.go b/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller.go
index 622b540c..a1196b2d 100644
--- a/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller.go
@@ -536,12 +536,7 @@ func (r *GitRepositoryReconciler) reconcileSource(ctx context.Context, sp *patch
 	// Persist the ArtifactSet.
 	*includes = *artifacts
 
-	var optimizedClone bool
-	if val, ok := r.features[features.OptimizedGitClones]; ok && val {
-		optimizedClone = true
-	}
-
-	c, err := r.gitCheckout(ctx, obj, authOpts, dir, optimizedClone)
+	c, err := r.gitCheckout(ctx, obj, authOpts, dir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return sreconcile.ResultEmpty, err
 	}
@@ -583,7 +578,7 @@ func (r *GitRepositoryReconciler) reconcileSource(ctx context.Context, sp *patch
 
 		// If we can't skip the reconciliation, checkout again without any
 		// optimization.
-		c, err := r.gitCheckout(ctx, obj, authOpts, dir, false)
+		c, err := r.gitCheckout(ctx, obj, authOpts, dir)
 		if err != nil {
 			return sreconcile.ResultEmpty, err
 		}
@@ -782,8 +777,7 @@ func (r *GitRepositoryReconciler) reconcileInclude(ctx context.Context, sp *patc
 // gitCheckout builds checkout options with the given configurations and
 // performs a git checkout.
 func (r *GitRepositoryReconciler) gitCheckout(ctx context.Context,
-	obj *sourcev1.GitRepository, authOpts *git.AuthOptions, dir string,
-	optimized bool) (*git.Commit, error) {
+	obj *sourcev1.GitRepository, authOpts *git.AuthOptions, dir string) (*git.Commit, error) {
 	// Configure checkout strategy.
 	cloneOpts := repository.CloneConfig{
 		RecurseSubmodules: obj.Spec.RecurseSubmodules,
@@ -800,7 +794,7 @@ func (r *GitRepositoryReconciler) gitCheckout(ctx context.Context,
 	// Only if the object has an existing artifact in storage, attempt to
 	// short-circuit clone operation. reconcileStorage has already verified
 	// that the artifact exists.
-	if optimized && conditions.IsTrue(obj, sourcev1.ArtifactInStorageCondition) {
+	if conditions.IsTrue(obj, sourcev1.ArtifactInStorageCondition) {
 		if artifact := obj.GetArtifact(); artifact != nil {
 			cloneOpts.LastObservedCommit = artifact.Revision
 		}
diff --git a/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller_test.go b/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller_test.go
index a19f0b22..bd7cddfc 100644
--- a/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/gitrepository_controller_test.go
@@ -562,10 +562,7 @@ func TestGitRepositoryReconciler_reconcileSource_authStrategy(t *testing.T) {
 				Client:        clientBuilder.Build(),
 				EventRecorder: record.NewFakeRecorder(32),
 				Storage:       testStorage,
-				features: map[string]bool{
-					features.OptimizedGitClones: true,
-				},
-				patchOptions: getPatchOptions(gitRepositoryReadyCondition.Owned, "sc"),
+				patchOptions:  getPatchOptions(gitRepositoryReadyCondition.Owned, "sc"),
 			}
 
 			tmpDir := t.TempDir()
@@ -792,10 +789,7 @@ func TestGitRepositoryReconciler_reconcileSource_checkoutStrategy(t *testing.T)
 			Build(),
 		EventRecorder: record.NewFakeRecorder(32),
 		Storage:       testStorage,
-		features: map[string]bool{
-			features.OptimizedGitClones: true,
-		},
-		patchOptions: getPatchOptions(gitRepositoryReadyCondition.Owned, "sc"),
+		patchOptions:  getPatchOptions(gitRepositoryReadyCondition.Owned, "sc"),
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
diff --git a/internal/controller/suite_test.go b/internal/controller/suite_test.go
index 28d126a3..2602e554 100644
--- a/internal/controller/suite_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/suite_test.go
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ import (
 	sourcev1 "github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api/v1"
 	sourcev1beta2 "github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api/v1beta2"
 	"github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/internal/cache"
-	"github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/internal/features"
 	"github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/internal/helm/registry"
 	// +kubebuilder:scaffold:imports
 )
@@ -241,9 +240,6 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 		EventRecorder: record.NewFakeRecorder(32),
 		Metrics:       testMetricsH,
 		Storage:       testStorage,
-		features: map[string]bool{
-			features.OptimizedGitClones: true,
-		},
 	}).SetupWithManagerAndOptions(testEnv, GitRepositoryReconcilerOptions{
 		RateLimiter: controller.GetDefaultRateLimiter(),
 	}); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/features/features.go b/internal/features/features.go
index 044b54c1..c2622ce3 100644
--- a/internal/features/features.go
+++ b/internal/features/features.go
@@ -22,13 +22,6 @@ package features
 import feathelper "github.com/fluxcd/pkg/runtime/features"
 
 const (
-	// OptimizedGitClones decreases resource utilization for GitRepository
-	// reconciliations.
-	//
-	// When enabled, avoids full clone operations by first checking whether
-	// the last revision is still the same at the target repository,
-	// and if that is so, skips the reconciliation.
-	OptimizedGitClones = "OptimizedGitClones"
 	// CacheSecretsAndConfigMaps controls whether secrets and configmaps should be cached.
 	//
 	// When enabled, it will cache both object types, resulting in increased memory usage
@@ -37,9 +30,6 @@ const (
 )
 
 var features = map[string]bool{
-	// OptimizedGitClones
-	// opt-out from v0.25
-	OptimizedGitClones: true,
 	// CacheSecretsAndConfigMaps
 	// opt-in from v0.34
 	CacheSecretsAndConfigMaps: false,