diff --git a/compiler/can/src/def.rs b/compiler/can/src/def.rs
index c5c5dd3b15..5e5430eabc 100644
--- a/compiler/can/src/def.rs
+++ b/compiler/can/src/def.rs
@@ -427,51 +427,6 @@ pub fn canonicalize_defs<'a>(
     )
 }
 
-fn crawl_for_references(
-    home: ModuleId,
-    input_references: References,
-    refs_by_def: &MutMap<Symbol, (Region, References)>,
-    closures: &MutMap<Symbol, References>,
-) -> References {
-    // Determine the full set of references by traversing the graph.
-    let mut visited_symbols = MutSet::default();
-    let returned_lookups = ImSet::clone(&input_references.value_lookups);
-
-    let mut output_references = input_references;
-
-    // Start with the return expression's referenced locals. They're the only ones that count!
-    //
-    // If I have two defs which reference each other, but neither of them is referenced
-    // in the return expression, I don't want either of them (or their references) to end up
-    // in the final output.references. They were unused, and so were their references!
-    //
-    // The reason we need a graph here is so we don't overlook transitive dependencies.
-    // For example, if I have `a = b + 1` and the def returns `a + 1`, then the
-    // def as a whole references both `a` *and* `b`, even though it doesn't
-    // directly mention `b` - because `a` depends on `b`. If we didn't traverse a graph here,
-    // we'd erroneously give a warning that `b` was unused since it wasn't directly referenced.
-    for symbol in returned_lookups.into_iter() {
-        // We only care about local symbols in this analysis.
-        if symbol.module_id() == home {
-            // Traverse the graph and look up *all* the references for this local symbol.
-            let refs = references_from_local(symbol, &mut visited_symbols, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-            output_references = output_references.union(refs);
-        }
-    }
-
-    for symbol in ImSet::clone(&output_references.calls).into_iter() {
-        // Traverse the graph and look up *all* the references for this call.
-        // Reuse the same visited_symbols as before; if we already visited it,
-        // we won't learn anything new from visiting it again!
-        let refs = references_from_call(symbol, &mut visited_symbols, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-        output_references = output_references.union(refs);
-    }
-
-    output_references
-}
-
 fn find_used_defs(
     home: ModuleId,
     value_lookups: &ImSet<Symbol>,
@@ -535,10 +490,8 @@ pub fn sort_can_defs(
     }
 
     let initial = output.references.clone();
-    let initial1 = output.references.clone();
-    let initial2 = output.references.clone();
 
-    let b = initial2.union(find_used_defs(
+    let b = initial.union(find_used_defs(
         env.home,
         &output.references.value_lookups,
         &output.references.calls,
@@ -546,16 +499,7 @@ pub fn sort_can_defs(
         &env.closures,
     ));
 
-    let a = output.references.union(crawl_for_references(
-        env.home,
-        initial,
-        &refs_by_symbol,
-        &env.closures,
-    ));
-
-    assert!(a == b);
-
-    output.references = a;
+    output.references = b;
 
     let mut defined_symbols: Vec<Symbol> = Vec::new();
     let mut defined_symbols_set: ImSet<Symbol> = ImSet::default();
diff --git a/compiler/can/src/expr.rs b/compiler/can/src/expr.rs
index 39f49d2483..65668696d0 100644
--- a/compiler/can/src/expr.rs
+++ b/compiler/can/src/expr.rs
@@ -1251,94 +1251,6 @@ where
     result
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn references_from_local<'a, T>(
-    defined_symbol: Symbol,
-    visited: &'a mut MutSet<Symbol>,
-    refs_by_def: &'a MutMap<Symbol, (T, References)>,
-    closures: &'a MutMap<Symbol, References>,
-) -> References
-where
-    T: Debug,
-{
-    let mut answer: References = References::new();
-
-    match refs_by_def.get(&defined_symbol) {
-        Some((_, refs)) => {
-            visited.insert(defined_symbol);
-
-            for local in refs.value_lookups.iter() {
-                if !visited.contains(local) {
-                    let other_refs: References =
-                        references_from_local(*local, visited, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-                    answer = answer.union(other_refs);
-                }
-
-                answer.value_lookups.insert(*local);
-            }
-
-            for call in refs.calls.iter() {
-                if !visited.contains(call) {
-                    let other_refs = references_from_call(*call, visited, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-                    answer = answer.union(other_refs);
-                }
-
-                answer.calls.insert(*call);
-            }
-
-            answer
-        }
-        None => answer,
-    }
-}
-
-pub(crate) fn references_from_call<'a, T>(
-    call_symbol: Symbol,
-    visited: &'a mut MutSet<Symbol>,
-    refs_by_def: &'a MutMap<Symbol, (T, References)>,
-    closures: &'a MutMap<Symbol, References>,
-) -> References
-where
-    T: Debug,
-{
-    match closures.get(&call_symbol) {
-        Some(references) => {
-            let mut answer = references.clone();
-
-            visited.insert(call_symbol);
-
-            for closed_over_local in references.value_lookups.iter() {
-                if !visited.contains(closed_over_local) {
-                    let other_refs =
-                        references_from_local(*closed_over_local, visited, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-                    answer = answer.union(other_refs);
-                }
-
-                answer.value_lookups.insert(*closed_over_local);
-            }
-
-            for call in references.calls.iter() {
-                if !visited.contains(call) {
-                    let other_refs = references_from_call(*call, visited, refs_by_def, closures);
-
-                    answer = answer.union(other_refs);
-                }
-
-                answer.calls.insert(*call);
-            }
-
-            answer
-        }
-        None => {
-            // If the call symbol was not in the closure map, that means we're calling a non-function and
-            // will get a type mismatch later. For now, assume no references as a result of the "call."
-            References::new()
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 enum CanonicalizeRecordProblem {
     InvalidOptionalValue {
         field_name: Lowercase,