diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
index 304ad6f6..df7c52b0 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/verified-fetch.ts
@@ -445,15 +445,6 @@ export class VerifiedFetch {
     [identity.code]: this.handleRaw
   }
 
-  /**
-   *
-   * TODO: Should we use 400, 408, 418, or 425, or throw and not even return a response?
-   */
-  private async abortHandler (opController: AbortController): Promise<void> {
-    this.log.error('signal aborted by user')
-    opController.abort('signal aborted by user')
-  }
-
   /**
    * We're starting to get to the point where we need a queue or pipeline of
    * operations to perform and a single place to handle errors.
@@ -467,12 +458,6 @@ export class VerifiedFetch {
 
     const options = convertOptions(opts)
 
-    const opController = new AbortController()
-    if (options?.signal != null) {
-      options.signal.onabort = this.abortHandler.bind(this, opController)
-      options.signal = opController.signal
-    }
-
     options?.onProgress?.(new CustomProgressEvent<CIDDetail>('verified-fetch:request:start', { resource }))
 
     // resolve the CID/path from the requested resource