diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/tables.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/tables.ts
index 4928c44b387eec..0309f7c2e48707 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/tables.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/tables.ts
@@ -86,12 +86,6 @@ export class GitpodTableDescriptionProvider implements TableDescriptionProvider
             deletionColumn: "deleted",
             timeColumn: "_lastModified",
         },
-        {
-            name: "d_b_user_ssh_public_key",
-            primaryKeys: ["id"],
-            deletionColumn: "deleted",
-            timeColumn: "_lastModified",
-        },
         {
             name: "d_b_stripe_customer",
             primaryKeys: ["stripeCustomerId"],
diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-user-ssh-public-key.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-user-ssh-public-key.ts
index bff7d40bd03d30..6452be4e6fd65f 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-user-ssh-public-key.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/entity/db-user-ssh-public-key.ts
@@ -49,8 +49,4 @@ export class DBUserSshPublicKey implements UserSSHPublicKey {
         transformer: Transformer.MAP_EMPTY_STR_TO_UNDEFINED,
     })
     lastUsedTime?: string;
-
-    // This column triggers the periodic deleter deletion mechanism. It's not intended for public consumption.
-    @Column()
-    deleted: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/migration/1695822248160-UserSshPublicKeyDropDeleted.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/migration/1695822248160-UserSshPublicKeyDropDeleted.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..f633c3e1f48537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/migration/1695822248160-UserSshPublicKeyDropDeleted.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2023 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
+ * Licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL).
+ * See License.AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
+ */
+
+import { MigrationInterface, QueryRunner } from "typeorm";
+import { columnExists } from "./helper/helper";
+
+const TABLE_NAME = "d_b_user_ssh_public_key";
+const COLUMN_NAME = "deleted";
+
+export class UserSshPublicKeyDropDeleted1695822248160 implements MigrationInterface {
+    public async up(queryRunner: QueryRunner): Promise<void> {
+        if (await columnExists(queryRunner, TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME)) {
+            await queryRunner.query(`ALTER TABLE \`${TABLE_NAME}\` DROP COLUMN \`${COLUMN_NAME}\`, ALGORITHM=INSTANT`);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public async down(queryRunner: QueryRunner): Promise<void> {
+        if (!(await columnExists(queryRunner, TABLE_NAME, COLUMN_NAME))) {
+            await queryRunner.query(
+                `ALTER TABLE \`${TABLE_NAME}\` ADD COLUMN \`${COLUMN_NAME}\` tinyint(4) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0', ALGORITHM=INSTANT`,
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/user-db-impl.ts b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/user-db-impl.ts
index e13aa498a1735d..3ffd955b65e594 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/user-db-impl.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-db/src/typeorm/user-db-impl.ts
@@ -425,18 +425,18 @@ export class TypeORMUserDBImpl extends TransactionalDBImpl<UserDB> implements Us
 
     public async hasSSHPublicKey(userId: string): Promise<boolean> {
         const repo = await this.getSSHPublicKeyRepo();
-        return !!(await repo.findOne({ where: { userId, deleted: false } }));
+        return !!(await repo.findOne({ where: { userId } }));
     }
 
     public async getSSHPublicKeys(userId: string): Promise<UserSSHPublicKey[]> {
         const repo = await this.getSSHPublicKeyRepo();
-        return repo.find({ where: { userId, deleted: false }, order: { creationTime: "ASC" } });
+        return repo.find({ where: { userId }, order: { creationTime: "ASC" } });
     }
 
     public async addSSHPublicKey(userId: string, value: SSHPublicKeyValue): Promise<UserSSHPublicKey> {
         const repo = await this.getSSHPublicKeyRepo();
         const fingerprint = SSHPublicKeyValue.getFingerprint(value);
-        const allKeys = await repo.find({ where: { userId, deleted: false } });
+        const allKeys = await repo.find({ where: { userId } });
         const prevOne = allKeys.find((e) => e.fingerprint === fingerprint);
         if (!!prevOne) {
             throw new Error(`Key already in use`);