diff --git a/autopilot/autopilot.go b/autopilot/autopilot.go
index e72c3c17a..e06b37cd5 100644
--- a/autopilot/autopilot.go
+++ b/autopilot/autopilot.go
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ type Bus interface {
 	RecordContractPruneMetric(ctx context.Context, metrics ...api.ContractPruneMetric) error
 
 	// objects
-	ObjectsBySlabKey(ctx context.Context, bucket string, key object.EncryptionKey) (objects []api.ObjectMetadata, err error)
 	RefreshHealth(ctx context.Context) error
 	Slab(ctx context.Context, key object.EncryptionKey) (object.Slab, error)
 	SlabsForMigration(ctx context.Context, healthCutoff float64, set string, limit int) ([]api.UnhealthySlab, error)
diff --git a/bus/bus.go b/bus/bus.go
index eb5467398..c95a79c2c 100644
--- a/bus/bus.go
+++ b/bus/bus.go
@@ -139,7 +139,6 @@ type (
 		ListObjects(ctx context.Context, bucketName, prefix, sortBy, sortDir, marker string, limit int) (api.ObjectsListResponse, error)
 		Object(ctx context.Context, bucketName, path string) (api.Object, error)
 		ObjectEntries(ctx context.Context, bucketName, path, prefix, sortBy, sortDir, marker string, offset, limit int) ([]api.ObjectMetadata, bool, error)
-		ObjectsBySlabKey(ctx context.Context, bucketName string, slabKey object.EncryptionKey) ([]api.ObjectMetadata, error)
 		ObjectsStats(ctx context.Context) (api.ObjectsStatsResponse, error)
 		RemoveObject(ctx context.Context, bucketName, path string) error
 		RemoveObjects(ctx context.Context, bucketName, prefix string) error
@@ -339,7 +338,6 @@ func (b *bus) Handler() http.Handler {
 		"POST   /slabs/partial":       b.slabsPartialHandlerPOST,
 		"POST   /slabs/refreshhealth": b.slabsRefreshHealthHandlerPOST,
 		"GET    /slab/:key":           b.slabHandlerGET,
-		"GET    /slab/:key/objects":   b.slabObjectsHandlerGET,
 		"PUT    /slab":                b.slabHandlerPUT,
 
 		"GET    /state":         b.stateHandlerGET,
@@ -1405,22 +1403,6 @@ func (b *bus) sectorsHostRootHandlerDELETE(jc jape.Context) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (b *bus) slabObjectsHandlerGET(jc jape.Context) {
-	var key object.EncryptionKey
-	if jc.DecodeParam("key", &key) != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	bucket := api.DefaultBucketName
-	if jc.DecodeForm("bucket", &bucket) != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	objects, err := b.ms.ObjectsBySlabKey(jc.Request.Context(), bucket, key)
-	if jc.Check("failed to retrieve objects by slab", err) != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	jc.Encode(objects)
-}
-
 func (b *bus) slabHandlerGET(jc jape.Context) {
 	var key object.EncryptionKey
 	if jc.DecodeParam("key", &key) != nil {
diff --git a/bus/client/objects.go b/bus/client/objects.go
index 8f9852689..52b6e8727 100644
--- a/bus/client/objects.go
+++ b/bus/client/objects.go
@@ -72,14 +72,6 @@ func (c *Client) Object(ctx context.Context, bucket, path string, opts api.GetOb
 	return
 }
 
-// ObjectsBySlabKey returns all objects that reference a given slab.
-func (c *Client) ObjectsBySlabKey(ctx context.Context, bucket string, key object.EncryptionKey) (objects []api.ObjectMetadata, err error) {
-	values := url.Values{}
-	values.Set("bucket", bucket)
-	err = c.c.WithContext(ctx).GET(fmt.Sprintf("/slab/%v/objects?"+values.Encode(), key), &objects)
-	return
-}
-
 // ObjectsStats returns information about the number of objects and their size.
 func (c *Client) ObjectsStats() (osr api.ObjectsStatsResponse, err error) {
 	err = c.c.GET("/stats/objects", &osr)
diff --git a/internal/testing/cluster_test.go b/internal/testing/cluster_test.go
index ac599ebda..a3a7cc056 100644
--- a/internal/testing/cluster_test.go
+++ b/internal/testing/cluster_test.go
@@ -1637,22 +1637,25 @@ func TestUploadPacking(t *testing.T) {
 		return nil
 	})
 
-	// ObjectsBySlabKey should return 2 objects for the slab of file1 since file1
-	// and file2 share the same slab.
-	res, err := b.Object(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, "file1", api.GetObjectOptions{})
+	// fetch both objects
+	res1, err := b.Object(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, "file1", api.GetObjectOptions{})
 	tt.OK(err)
-	objs, err := b.ObjectsBySlabKey(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, res.Object.Slabs[0].Key)
+	res2, err := b.Object(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, "file2", api.GetObjectOptions{})
 	tt.OK(err)
-	if len(objs) != 2 {
-		t.Fatal("expected 2 objects", len(objs))
+
+	// assert they share a slab
+	var found bool
+	if len(res1.Object.Slabs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 slab, got %v", len(res1.Object.Slabs))
 	}
-	sort.Slice(objs, func(i, j int) bool {
-		return objs[i].Name < objs[j].Name // make result deterministic
-	})
-	if objs[0].Name != "/file1" {
-		t.Fatal("expected file1", objs[0].Name)
-	} else if objs[1].Name != "/file2" {
-		t.Fatal("expected file2", objs[1].Name)
+	for _, slab := range res2.Object.Slabs {
+		if slab.Key.Equals(res1.Object.Slabs[0].Key) {
+			found = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Fatal("object should share a slab")
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/object/object.go b/object/object.go
index 7a4ebf000..bdb16a0fe 100644
--- a/object/object.go
+++ b/object/object.go
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ func (k *EncryptionKey) UnmarshalBinary(b []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// Equals implements the Equaler interface.
+func (k EncryptionKey) Equals(o EncryptionKey) bool {
+	return bytes.Equal(k.entropy[:], o.entropy[:])
+}
+
 // String implements fmt.Stringer.
 func (k EncryptionKey) String() string {
 	return "key:" + hex.EncodeToString(k.entropy[:])
diff --git a/stores/metadata.go b/stores/metadata.go
index c86b9f81d..64b76101b 100644
--- a/stores/metadata.go
+++ b/stores/metadata.go
@@ -2171,34 +2171,6 @@ func (s *SQLStore) PackedSlabsForUpload(ctx context.Context, lockingDuration tim
 	return s.slabBufferMgr.SlabsForUpload(ctx, lockingDuration, minShards, totalShards, contractSetID, limit)
 }
 
-func (s *SQLStore) ObjectsBySlabKey(ctx context.Context, bucket string, slabKey object.EncryptionKey) (metadata []api.ObjectMetadata, err error) {
-	var rows []rawObjectMetadata
-	key, err := slabKey.MarshalBinary()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	err = s.db.Raw(`
-SELECT DISTINCT obj.object_id as Name, obj.size as Size, obj.mime_type as MimeType, sla.health as Health
-FROM slabs sla
-INNER JOIN slices sli ON sli.db_slab_id = sla.id
-INNER JOIN objects obj ON sli.db_object_id = obj.id
-INNER JOIN buckets b ON obj.db_bucket_id = b.id AND b.name = ?
-WHERE sla.key = ?
-	`, bucket, key).
-		Scan(&rows).
-		Error
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	// convert rows
-	for _, row := range rows {
-		metadata = append(metadata, row.convert())
-	}
-	return
-}
-
 // MarkPackedSlabsUploaded marks the given slabs as uploaded and deletes them
 // from the buffer.
 func (s *SQLStore) MarkPackedSlabsUploaded(ctx context.Context, slabs []api.UploadedPackedSlab) error {
diff --git a/stores/metadata_test.go b/stores/metadata_test.go
index ecf6849ee..2cd2d2ee6 100644
--- a/stores/metadata_test.go
+++ b/stores/metadata_test.go
@@ -2984,69 +2984,6 @@ func (s *SQLStore) dbSlab(key []byte) (dbSlab, error) {
 	return slab, nil
 }
 
-func TestObjectsBySlabKey(t *testing.T) {
-	ss := newTestSQLStore(t, defaultTestSQLStoreConfig)
-	defer ss.Close()
-
-	// create a host
-	hks, err := ss.addTestHosts(1)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	hk1 := hks[0]
-
-	// create a contract
-	fcids, _, err := ss.addTestContracts(hks)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	fcid1 := fcids[0]
-
-	// create a slab.
-	slab := object.Slab{
-		Health:    1.0,
-		Key:       object.GenerateEncryptionKey(),
-		MinShards: 1,
-		Shards:    newTestShards(hk1, fcid1, types.Hash256{1}),
-	}
-
-	// Add 3 objects that all reference the slab.
-	obj := object.Object{
-		Key: object.GenerateEncryptionKey(),
-		Slabs: []object.SlabSlice{
-			{
-				Slab:   slab,
-				Offset: 1,
-				Length: 0, // incremented later
-			},
-		},
-	}
-	for _, name := range []string{"obj1", "obj2", "obj3"} {
-		obj.Slabs[0].Length++
-		err = ss.UpdateObject(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, name, testContractSet, testETag, testMimeType, obj)
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Fetch the objects by slab.
-	objs, err := ss.ObjectsBySlabKey(context.Background(), api.DefaultBucketName, slab.Key)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	for i, name := range []string{"obj1", "obj2", "obj3"} {
-		if objs[i].Name != name {
-			t.Fatal("unexpected object name", objs[i].Name, name)
-		}
-		if objs[i].Size != int64(i)+1 {
-			t.Fatal("unexpected object size", objs[i].Size, i+1)
-		}
-		if objs[i].Health != 1.0 {
-			t.Fatal("unexpected object health", objs[i].Health)
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestBuckets(t *testing.T) {
 	ss := newTestSQLStore(t, defaultTestSQLStoreConfig)
 	defer ss.Close()
@@ -3241,22 +3178,6 @@ func TestBucketObjects(t *testing.T) {
 	} else if _, err := ss.Object(context.Background(), b2, "/bar"); !errors.Is(err, api.ErrObjectNotFound) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-
-	// See if we can fetch the object by slab.
-	var ec object.EncryptionKey
-	if obj, err := ss.object(context.Background(), ss.db, b1, "/bar"); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if err := ec.UnmarshalBinary(obj[0].SlabKey); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if objects, err := ss.ObjectsBySlabKey(context.Background(), b1, ec); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if len(objects) != 1 {
-		t.Fatal("expected 1 object", len(objects))
-	} else if objects, err := ss.ObjectsBySlabKey(context.Background(), b2, ec); err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	} else if len(objects) != 0 {
-		t.Fatal("expected 0 objects", len(objects))
-	}
 }
 
 func TestCopyObject(t *testing.T) {