diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
index b820b843d4..1912b34af8 100644
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ py_library(
     name = "lib",
     srcs = [
         "arguments.py",
-        "wheel.py",
         "wheel_installer.py",
     ],
     visibility = [
diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/arguments.py b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/arguments.py
index 0d31ab7c4d..9122654a11 100644
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/arguments.py
+++ b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/arguments.py
@@ -55,11 +55,6 @@ def parser(**kwargs: Any) -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
         help="Use 'pip download' instead of 'pip wheel'. Disables building wheels from source, but allows use of "
         "--platform, --python-version, --implementation, and --abi in --extra_pip_args.",
     )
-    parser.add_argument(
-        "--whl-file",
-        type=pathlib.Path,
-        help="Extract a whl file to be used within Bazel.",
-    )
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel.py b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 801fd0f3b9..0000000000
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,105 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2023 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-"""Utility class to inspect an extracted wheel directory"""
-
-import email
-from pathlib import Path
-
-import installer
-
-
-class DoNothingCm:
-    """A context manager that does nothing when written to."""
-
-    def __enter__(self):
-        return self
-
-    def __exit__(self, *args):
-        pass
-
-    def write(self, data):
-        pass
-
-
-class NoEntryPointsSchemeDictionaryDestination(
-    installer.destinations.SchemeDictionaryDestination
-):
-    """
-    A custom destination that prevents the `installer` package from automatically
-    generating scripts for `console_scripts` entry points.
-
-    rules_python handles entry points via its own `venv_entry_point` targets.
-    If `installer` also generates these scripts in the `bin/` directory, it
-    causes a target naming collision because `whl_library_targets.bzl` will
-    try to create a `venv_rewrite_shebang` target with the same name.
-
-    By overriding `for_script` to return a no-op dummy writer, we silently
-    discard the generated entry point scripts while still allowing `installer`
-    to process the rest of the wheel normally (including `.data/scripts` which
-    we do want to keep).
-    """
-
-    def for_script(self, name, module, attribute):
-        return DoNothingCm()
-
-
-class Wheel:
-    """Representation of the compressed .whl file"""
-
-    def __init__(self, path: Path):
-        self._path = path
-
-    @property
-    def path(self) -> Path:
-        return self._path
-
-    @property
-    def metadata(self) -> email.message.Message:
-        with installer.sources.WheelFile.open(self.path) as wheel_source:
-            metadata_contents = wheel_source.read_dist_info("METADATA")
-            metadata = installer.utils.parse_metadata_file(metadata_contents)
-        return metadata
-
-    @property
-    def version(self) -> str:
-        # TODO Also available as installer.sources.WheelSource.version
-        return str(self.metadata["Version"])
-
-    def unzip(self, directory: str) -> None:
-        installation_schemes = {
-            "purelib": "/site-packages",
-            "platlib": "/site-packages",
-            "headers": "/include",
-            "scripts": "/bin",
-            "data": "/data",
-        }
-
-        destination = NoEntryPointsSchemeDictionaryDestination(
-            installation_schemes,
-            # TODO Should entry_point scripts also be handled by installer rather than custom code?
-            interpreter="python",
-            script_kind="posix",
-            destdir=directory,
-            bytecode_optimization_levels=[],
-        )
-
-        with installer.sources.WheelFile.open(self.path) as wheel_source:
-            installer.install(
-                source=wheel_source,
-                destination=destination,
-                additional_metadata={
-                    "INSTALLER": b"https://github.com/bazel-contrib/rules_python",
-                },
-            )
diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer.py b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer.py
index 1f00068060..81dd3995db 100644
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer.py
+++ b/python/private/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer.py
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@
 from tempfile import NamedTemporaryFile
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Set, Tuple
 
-from pip._vendor.packaging.utils import canonicalize_name
-
-from python.private.pypi.whl_installer import arguments, wheel
+from python.private.pypi.whl_installer import arguments
 
 
 def _configure_reproducible_wheels() -> None:
@@ -55,45 +53,6 @@ def _configure_reproducible_wheels() -> None:
         os.environ["PYTHONHASHSEED"] = "0"
 
 
-def _parse_requirement_for_extra(
-    requirement: str,
-) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[Set[str]]]:
-    """Given a requirement string, returns the requirement name and set of extras, if extras specified.
-    Else, returns (None, None)
-    """
-
-    # https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0508/#grammar
-    extras_pattern = re.compile(
-        r"^\s*([0-9A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z_.\-]*)\s*\[\s*([0-9A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z_.\-]*(?:\s*,\s*[0-9A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z_.\-]*)*)\s*\]"
-    )
-
-    matches = extras_pattern.match(requirement)
-    if matches:
-        return (
-            canonicalize_name(matches.group(1)),
-            {extra.strip() for extra in matches.group(2).split(",")},
-        )
-
-    return None, None
-
-
-def _extract_wheel(
-    wheel_file: str,
-    extras: Dict[str, Set[str]],
-    installation_dir: Path = Path("."),
-) -> None:
-    """Extracts wheel into given directory and creates py_library and filegroup targets.
-
-    Args:
-        wheel_file: the filepath of the .whl
-        installation_dir: the destination directory for installation of the wheel.
-        extras: a list of extras to add as dependencies for the installed wheel
-    """
-
-    whl = wheel.Wheel(wheel_file)
-    whl.unzip(installation_dir)
-
-
 def main() -> None:
     args = arguments.parser(description=__doc__).parse_args()
     deserialized_args = dict(vars(args))
@@ -101,17 +60,6 @@ def main() -> None:
 
     _configure_reproducible_wheels()
 
-    if args.whl_file:
-        whl = Path(args.whl_file)
-
-        name, extras_for_pkg = _parse_requirement_for_extra(args.requirement)
-        extras = {name: extras_for_pkg} if extras_for_pkg and name else dict()
-        _extract_wheel(
-            wheel_file=whl,
-            extras=extras,
-        )
-        return
-
     pip_args = (
         [sys.executable, "-m", "pip"]
         + (["--isolated"] if args.isolated else [])
diff --git a/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl b/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
index 529514578d..966d25d04d 100644
--- a/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
+++ b/python/private/pypi/whl_library.bzl
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 ""
 
-load("@rules_python_internal//:rules_python_config.bzl", rp_config = "config")
 load("//python/private:auth.bzl", "AUTH_ATTRS", "get_auth")
 load("//python/private:envsubst.bzl", "envsubst")
 load("//python/private:is_standalone_interpreter.bzl", "is_standalone_interpreter")
@@ -261,22 +260,6 @@ def _create_repository_execution_environment(rctx, python_interpreter, logger =
         env[_CPPFLAGS] = " ".join(cppflags)
     return env
 
-def _extract_whl_py(rctx, *, python_interpreter, args, whl_path, environment, logger):
-    pypi_repo_utils.execute_checked(
-        rctx,
-        op = "whl_library.ExtractWheel({}, {})".format(rctx.attr.name, whl_path),
-        python = python_interpreter,
-        arguments = args + [
-            "--whl-file",
-            whl_path,
-        ],
-        srcs = rctx.attr._python_srcs,
-        environment = environment,
-        quiet = rctx.attr.quiet,
-        timeout = rctx.attr.timeout,
-        logger = logger,
-    )
-
 def _get_entry_points(rctx, install_dir_path, metadata):
     dist_info_dir = "{}-{}.dist-info".format(
         metadata.name.replace("-", "_"),
@@ -376,11 +359,10 @@ def _whl_library_impl(rctx):
             # build deps from PyPI (e.g. `flit_core`) if they are missing.
             extra_pip_args.extend(["--find-links", "."])
 
-    enable_pipstar_extract = rp_config.bazel_8_or_later
-
-    # When pipstar is enabled, Python isn't used, so there's no need
-    # to setup env vars to run Python, unless we need to build an sdist
-    if enable_pipstar_extract and whl_path and not rctx.attr.whl_patches:
+    # When we already have a wheel and there are no patches, Python isn't used,
+    # so there's no need to setup env vars to run Python, unless we need to
+    # build an sdist or resolve a requirement.
+    if whl_path and not rctx.attr.whl_patches:
         environment = {}
         args = []
         python_interpreter = None
@@ -446,17 +428,7 @@ def _whl_library_impl(rctx):
                 timeout = rctx.attr.timeout,
             )
 
-    if enable_pipstar_extract:
-        whl_extract(rctx, whl_path = whl_path, logger = logger)
-    else:
-        _extract_whl_py(
-            rctx,
-            python_interpreter = python_interpreter,
-            args = args,
-            whl_path = whl_path,
-            environment = environment,
-            logger = logger,
-        )
+    whl_extract(rctx, whl_path = whl_path, logger = logger)
 
     install_dir_path = whl_path.dirname.get_child("site-packages")
     metadata = whl_metadata(
@@ -513,9 +485,8 @@ repo(
     _remove_files(rctx, "BUILD", "BUILD.bazel")
     rctx.file("BUILD.bazel", build_file_contents)
 
-    if enable_pipstar_extract:
-        if hasattr(rctx, "repo_metadata"):
-            return rctx.repo_metadata(reproducible = True)
+    if hasattr(rctx, "repo_metadata"):
+        return rctx.repo_metadata(reproducible = True)
 
     return None
 
@@ -632,7 +603,6 @@ way to define whl_library and move whl patching to a separate place. INTERNAL US
     "_python_srcs": attr.label_list(
         # Used as a default value in a rule to ensure we fetch the dependencies.
         default = [
-            Label("//python/private/pypi/whl_installer:wheel.py"),
             Label("//python/private/pypi/whl_installer:wheel_installer.py"),
             Label("//python/private/pypi/whl_installer:arguments.py"),
         ] + record_files.values(),
diff --git a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel b/tests/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
index 0a859c0e4d..5a2efb1260 100644
--- a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/tests/pypi/whl_installer/BUILD.bazel
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 load("//python:py_test.bzl", "py_test")
 
-alias(
-    name = "lib",
-    actual = "//python/private/pypi/whl_installer:lib",
-)
-
 py_test(
     name = "arguments_test",
     size = "small",
@@ -12,18 +7,6 @@ py_test(
         "arguments_test.py",
     ],
     deps = [
-        ":lib",
-    ],
-)
-
-py_test(
-    name = "wheel_installer_test",
-    size = "small",
-    srcs = [
-        "wheel_installer_test.py",
-    ],
-    data = ["//examples/wheel:minimal_with_py_package"],
-    deps = [
-        ":lib",
+        "//python/private/pypi/whl_installer:lib",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/arguments_test.py b/tests/pypi/whl_installer/arguments_test.py
index 9e26849db0..c874445029 100644
--- a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/arguments_test.py
+++ b/tests/pypi/whl_installer/arguments_test.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 import json
 import unittest
 
-from python.private.pypi.whl_installer import arguments, wheel
+from python.private.pypi.whl_installer import arguments
 
 
 class ArgumentsTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer_test.py b/tests/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer_test.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 52c44cf2de..0000000000
--- a/tests/pypi/whl_installer/wheel_installer_test.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2023 The Bazel Authors. All rights reserved.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-import json
-import os
-import shutil
-import tempfile
-import unittest
-from pathlib import Path
-
-from python.private.pypi.whl_installer import wheel_installer
-
-
-class TestRequirementExtrasParsing(unittest.TestCase):
-    def test_parses_requirement_for_extra(self) -> None:
-        cases = [
-            ("name[foo]", ("name", frozenset(["foo"]))),
-            ("name[ Foo123 ]", ("name", frozenset(["Foo123"]))),
-            (" name1[ foo ] ", ("name1", frozenset(["foo"]))),
-            ("Name[foo]", ("name", frozenset(["foo"]))),
-            ("name_foo[bar]", ("name-foo", frozenset(["bar"]))),
-            (
-                "name [fred,bar] @ http://foo.com ; python_version=='2.7'",
-                ("name", frozenset(["fred", "bar"])),
-            ),
-            (
-                "name[quux, strange];python_version<'2.7' and platform_version=='2'",
-                ("name", frozenset(["quux", "strange"])),
-            ),
-            (
-                "name; (os_name=='a' or os_name=='b') and os_name=='c'",
-                (None, None),
-            ),
-            (
-                "name@http://foo.com",
-                (None, None),
-            ),
-        ]
-
-        for case, expected in cases:
-            with self.subTest():
-                self.assertTupleEqual(
-                    wheel_installer._parse_requirement_for_extra(case), expected
-                )
-
-
-class TestWhlFilegroup(unittest.TestCase):
-    def setUp(self) -> None:
-        self.wheel_name = "example_minimal_package-0.0.1-py3-none-any.whl"
-        self.wheel_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self.wheel_path = os.path.join(self.wheel_dir, self.wheel_name)
-        shutil.copy(os.path.join("examples", "wheel", self.wheel_name), self.wheel_dir)
-
-    def tearDown(self):
-        # On windows, the wheel file remains open, so gives an error upon
-        # deletion for some reason.
-        shutil.rmtree(self.wheel_dir, ignore_errors=True)
-
-    def test_wheel_exists(self) -> None:
-        wheel_installer._extract_wheel(
-            Path(self.wheel_path),
-            installation_dir=Path(self.wheel_dir),
-            extras={},
-        )
-
-        want_files = [
-            "site-packages",
-            self.wheel_name,
-        ]
-        self.assertEqual(
-            sorted(want_files),
-            sorted(
-                [
-                    str(p.relative_to(self.wheel_dir))
-                    for p in Path(self.wheel_dir).glob("*")
-                ]
-            ),
-        )
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    unittest.main()
diff --git a/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/BUILD.bazel b/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/BUILD.bazel
index 256c4f24b5..d44bbcbb63 100644
--- a/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/BUILD.bazel
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-load("@rules_python_internal//:rules_python_config.bzl", rp_config = "config")
 load("@rules_shell//shell:sh_test.bzl", "sh_test")
 load("//python:py_library.bzl", "py_library")
 load("//tests/support:py_reconfig.bzl", "py_reconfig_test")
@@ -79,9 +78,6 @@ py_reconfig_test(
         "@platforms//os:windows": "system_python",
         "//conditions:default": "script",
     }),
-    env = {
-        "BAZEL_8_OR_LATER": "1" if rp_config.bazel_8_or_later else "0",
-    },
     main = "whl_scripts_runnable_test.py",
     venvs_site_packages = "yes",
     deps = [
diff --git a/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/whl_scripts_runnable_test.py b/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/whl_scripts_runnable_test.py
index 61b477f493..b62b5a5fce 100644
--- a/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/whl_scripts_runnable_test.py
+++ b/tests/venv_site_packages_libs/whl_scripts_runnable_test.py
@@ -63,12 +63,6 @@ def test_entry_point_is_runnable(self):
         script_executable = output[-1].strip()
         self.assertEqual(script_executable, sys.executable)
 
-    # This should really check for 8.5 instead of 8+, but we test with 8.6
-    # so it's close enough for our purposes.
-    @unittest.skipUnless(
-        BAZEL_8_OR_LATER,
-        "bazel 8.5 and lower uses wheel.py, which rewrites #!pythonw to #!python",
-    )
     def test_pythonw_script(self):
         script_path = self._get_script_path("whl_with_data1_pythonw")
         self.assertTrue(script_path.exists(), f"Script not found at {script_path}")