diff --git a/.bk.yaml b/.bk.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 813fb3c..0000000
--- a/.bk.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-selected_org: cash
diff --git a/cmd/cachewd/main.go b/cmd/cachewd/main.go
index 9f91584..26d8625 100644
--- a/cmd/cachewd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/cachewd/main.go
@@ -214,9 +214,6 @@ func newServer(ctx context.Context, muxHandler http.Handler, bind string, metric
 	)(handler)
 
 	handler = httputil.LoggingMiddleware(handler)
-	if os.Getenv("IS_PLAYPEN") != "true" {
-		handler = httputil.PlaypenGuardMiddleware(handler)
-	}
 
 	logger := logging.FromContext(ctx)
 	return &http.Server{
diff --git a/internal/httputil/playpen_guard.go b/internal/httputil/playpen_guard.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 2456a6f..0000000
--- a/internal/httputil/playpen_guard.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-package httputil
-
-import (
-	"net/http"
-	"strings"
-)
-
-// PlaypenGuardMiddleware rejects requests that target a playpen instance
-// (via the Baggage header) when this instance is not a playpen.
-// This prevents requests from silently falling through to staging.
-func PlaypenGuardMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
-	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-		if baggage := r.Header.Get("Baggage"); hasCachewPlaypenKey(baggage) {
-			http.Error(w, "no matching cachew playpen found — start one with: sq playpen sync", http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
-			return
-		}
-		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
-	})
-}
-
-func hasCachewPlaypenKey(baggage string) bool {
-	if baggage == "" {
-		return false
-	}
-	for entry := range strings.SplitSeq(baggage, ",") {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(entry), "cachew-playpen=") {
-			return true
-		}
-	}
-	return false
-}
diff --git a/internal/httputil/playpen_guard_test.go b/internal/httputil/playpen_guard_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index c90576d..0000000
--- a/internal/httputil/playpen_guard_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-package httputil_test
-
-import (
-	"net/http"
-	"net/http/httptest"
-	"testing"
-
-	"github.com/alecthomas/assert/v2"
-
-	"github.com/block/cachew/internal/httputil"
-)
-
-func TestPlaypenGuardMiddleware(t *testing.T) {
-	ok := http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
-		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
-	})
-	guard := httputil.PlaypenGuardMiddleware(ok)
-
-	t.Run("allows normal requests", func(t *testing.T) {
-		req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
-		rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
-		guard.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
-		assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, rr.Code)
-	})
-
-	t.Run("blocks requests with cachew playpen baggage", func(t *testing.T) {
-		req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
-		req.Header.Set("Baggage", "cachew-playpen=jrobotham")
-		rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
-		guard.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
-		assert.Equal(t, http.StatusServiceUnavailable, rr.Code)
-	})
-
-	t.Run("allows requests with unrelated baggage", func(t *testing.T) {
-		req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/", nil)
-		req.Header.Set("Baggage", "blox-playpen=jrobotham")
-		rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
-		guard.ServeHTTP(rr, req)
-		assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, rr.Code)
-	})
-}