diff --git a/pkg/storage/tsdb/config.go b/pkg/storage/tsdb/config.go
index c8009066364..11a1976b3de 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/tsdb/config.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/tsdb/config.go
@@ -24,10 +24,6 @@ const (
 	// set when shipping blocks to the storage.
 	IngesterIDExternalLabel = "__ingester_id__"
 
-	// ShardIDExternalLabel is the external label containing the shard ID
-	// and can be used to shard blocks.
-	ShardIDExternalLabel = "__shard_id__"
-
 	// How often are open TSDBs checked for being idle and closed.
 	DefaultCloseIdleTSDBInterval = 5 * time.Minute
 
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/bucket_stores.go b/pkg/storegateway/bucket_stores.go
index 22b7c6bea5f..859499862f8 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/bucket_stores.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/bucket_stores.go
@@ -431,7 +431,6 @@ func (u *BucketStores) getOrCreateStore(userID string) (*store.BucketStore, erro
 		NewReplicaLabelRemover(userLogger, []string{
 			tsdb.TenantIDExternalLabel,
 			tsdb.IngesterIDExternalLabel,
-			tsdb.ShardIDExternalLabel,
 		}),
 		// Remove Cortex external labels so that they're not injected when querying blocks.
 	}...)
diff --git a/pkg/storegateway/gateway_test.go b/pkg/storegateway/gateway_test.go
index f6c3cae103b..985e2ef2954 100644
--- a/pkg/storegateway/gateway_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storegateway/gateway_test.go
@@ -826,7 +826,6 @@ func TestStoreGateway_SeriesQueryingShouldRemoveExternalLabels(t *testing.T) {
 			Labels: map[string]string{
 				cortex_tsdb.TenantIDExternalLabel:   userID,
 				cortex_tsdb.IngesterIDExternalLabel: fmt.Sprintf("ingester-%d", idx),
-				cortex_tsdb.ShardIDExternalLabel:    fmt.Sprintf("shard-%d", idx),
 			},
 			Source: metadata.TestSource,
 		}