diff --git a/modules/hostmatcher/hostmatcher.go b/modules/hostmatcher/hostmatcher.go
index 9492a479f1..6c5c2a74d9 100644
--- a/modules/hostmatcher/hostmatcher.go
+++ b/modules/hostmatcher/hostmatcher.go
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
-
-	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/util"
 )
 
 // HostMatchList is used to check if a host or IP is in a list.
@@ -104,11 +102,11 @@ func (hl *HostMatchList) checkIP(ip net.IP) bool {
 	for _, builtin := range hl.builtins {
 		switch builtin {
 		case MatchBuiltinExternal:
-			if ip.IsGlobalUnicast() && !util.IsIPPrivate(ip) {
+			if ip.IsGlobalUnicast() && !ip.IsPrivate() {
 				return true
 			}
 		case MatchBuiltinPrivate:
-			if util.IsIPPrivate(ip) {
+			if ip.IsPrivate() {
 				return true
 			}
 		case MatchBuiltinLoopback:
diff --git a/modules/util/net.go b/modules/util/net.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 0339325dc3..0000000000
--- a/modules/util/net.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2021 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
-package util
-
-import (
-	"net"
-)
-
-func IsIPPrivate(ip net.IP) bool {
-	return ip.IsPrivate()
-}
diff --git a/modules/util/net_test.go b/modules/util/net_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 93a95ab123..0000000000
--- a/modules/util/net_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2022 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
-package util
-
-import (
-	"net"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-)
-
-func TestIsIPPPrivate(t *testing.T) {
-	cases := []struct {
-		ip        string
-		isPrivate bool
-	}{
-		// case 0
-		{
-			ip:        "127.0.0.1",
-			isPrivate: false, // TODO: according to go, this isn't private?
-		},
-		// case 1
-		{
-			ip:        "127.1.2.3",
-			isPrivate: false, // TODO: according to go, this isn't private?
-		},
-		// case 2
-		{
-			ip:        "10.255.255.0",
-			isPrivate: true,
-		},
-		// case 3
-		{
-			ip:        "8.8.8.8",
-			isPrivate: false,
-		},
-		// case 4
-		{
-			ip:        "::1",
-			isPrivate: false, // TODO: according to go, this isn't private?
-		},
-		// case 4
-		{
-			ip:        "2a12:7c40::f00d",
-			isPrivate: false,
-		},
-	}
-
-	for n, c := range cases {
-		i := net.ParseIP(c.ip)
-		p := IsIPPrivate(i)
-		assert.Equal(t, c.isPrivate, p, "case %d: should be equal", n)
-	}
-}