diff --git a/app/src/hooks/__tests__/useBackendReachable.test.tsx b/app/src/hooks/__tests__/useBackendReachable.test.tsx
deleted file mode 100644
index 3463c5166..000000000
--- a/app/src/hooks/__tests__/useBackendReachable.test.tsx
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-import { renderHook, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
-
-import { useBackendReachable } from '../useBackendReachable';
-
-vi.mock('../../services/backendUrl', () => ({
-  getBackendUrl: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue('http://localhost:5005'),
-}));
-
-describe('useBackendReachable', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => {
-    vi.restoreAllMocks();
-  });
-
-  it('reports reachable when fetch resolves with any HTTP response', async () => {
-    vi.spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch').mockResolvedValue(new Response(null, { status: 200 }));
-
-    const { result } = renderHook(() => useBackendReachable());
-    expect(result.current).toBe('probing');
-    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBe('reachable'));
-  });
-
-  it('reports reachable on 4xx (host answered)', async () => {
-    vi.spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch').mockResolvedValue(new Response(null, { status: 404 }));
-
-    const { result } = renderHook(() => useBackendReachable());
-    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBe('reachable'));
-  });
-
-  it('reports unreachable when fetch rejects (network error)', async () => {
-    vi.spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch').mockRejectedValue(new TypeError('Failed to fetch'));
-
-    const { result } = renderHook(() => useBackendReachable());
-    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBe('unreachable'));
-  });
-});
diff --git a/app/src/hooks/useBackendReachable.ts b/app/src/hooks/useBackendReachable.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index fb48ae629..000000000
--- a/app/src/hooks/useBackendReachable.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-import createDebug from 'debug';
-import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
-
-import { getBackendUrl } from '../services/backendUrl';
-
-const log = createDebug('app:backend-probe');
-
-export type BackendProbeStatus = 'probing' | 'reachable' | 'unreachable';
-
-const PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS = 2500;
-
-/**
- * Probes the configured backend URL once on mount and reports whether it is
- * reachable. The "Continue locally" CTA on the Welcome screen is gated on
- * `unreachable` so users only see it when the backend OAuth flow can't be
- * completed (per issue #2037 AC).
- *
- * We treat any successful HTTP response (incl. 4xx) as reachable — the goal is
- * to confirm the host is online, not that a specific route exists.
- */
-export function useBackendReachable(): BackendProbeStatus {
-  const [status, setStatus] = useState<BackendProbeStatus>('probing');
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    let cancelled = false;
-    const controller = new AbortController();
-    const timeoutId = window.setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS);
-
-    void (async () => {
-      try {
-        const base = await getBackendUrl();
-        log('[probe] fetching %s/health', base);
-        const response = await fetch(`${base}/health`, {
-          method: 'GET',
-          signal: controller.signal,
-          cache: 'no-store',
-        });
-        if (cancelled) return;
-        // Any HTTP response (even 404) means the host answered — it's online.
-        log('[probe] response status=%d → reachable', response.status);
-        setStatus('reachable');
-      } catch (err) {
-        if (cancelled) return;
-        log('[probe] failed → unreachable: %o', err);
-        setStatus('unreachable');
-      } finally {
-        window.clearTimeout(timeoutId);
-      }
-    })();
-
-    return () => {
-      cancelled = true;
-      controller.abort();
-      window.clearTimeout(timeoutId);
-    };
-  }, []);
-
-  return status;
-}