diff --git a/sdks/java/container/Dockerfile b/sdks/java/container/Dockerfile
index b941aee453d4..5f25c1e65a9f 100644
--- a/sdks/java/container/Dockerfile
+++ b/sdks/java/container/Dockerfile
@@ -28,11 +28,6 @@ ADD target/log4j-over-slf4j.jar /opt/apache/beam/jars/
 ADD target/log4j-to-slf4j.jar /opt/apache/beam/jars/
 ADD target/beam-sdks-java-harness.jar /opt/apache/beam/jars/
 
-# Required to run cross-language pipelines with KafkaIO
-# TODO May be removed once custom environments are supported
-ADD target/beam-sdks-java-io-kafka.jar /opt/apache/beam/jars/
-ADD target/kafka-clients.jar /opt/apache/beam/jars/
-
 # Required to use jamm as a javaagent to get accurate object size measuring
 # COPY fails if file is not found, so use a wildcard for open-module-agent.jar
 # since it is only included in Java 9+ containers
diff --git a/sdks/java/container/boot.go b/sdks/java/container/boot.go
index 63dd1176d370..a5a42d4fb1e1 100644
--- a/sdks/java/container/boot.go
+++ b/sdks/java/container/boot.go
@@ -141,8 +141,6 @@ func main() {
 		filepath.Join(jarsDir, "log4j-over-slf4j.jar"),
 		filepath.Join(jarsDir, "log4j-to-slf4j.jar"),
 		filepath.Join(jarsDir, "beam-sdks-java-harness.jar"),
-		filepath.Join(jarsDir, "beam-sdks-java-io-kafka.jar"),
-		filepath.Join(jarsDir, "kafka-clients.jar"),
 	}
 
 	var hasWorkerExperiment = strings.Contains(options, "use_staged_dataflow_worker_jar")
diff --git a/sdks/java/container/build.gradle b/sdks/java/container/build.gradle
index 98a626595603..133ef382f64e 100644
--- a/sdks/java/container/build.gradle
+++ b/sdks/java/container/build.gradle
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ applyGoNature()
 applyPythonNature()
 
 evaluationDependsOn(":sdks:java:harness")
-evaluationDependsOn(":sdks:java:io:kafka")
 evaluationDependsOn(":sdks:java:io:jdbc")
 
 description = "Apache Beam :: SDKs :: Java :: Container"
@@ -42,10 +41,6 @@ dependencies {
   dockerDependency library.java.log4j_over_slf4j
   dockerDependency library.java.log4j2_to_slf4j
   dockerDependency project(path: ":sdks:java:harness", configuration: "shadow")
-  // For executing KafkaIO, e.g. as an external transform
-  dockerDependency project(":sdks:java:io:kafka")
-  // This dependency is set to 'provided' scope in :sdks:java:io:kafka
-  dockerDependency library.java.kafka_clients
   dockerDependency library.java.jamm
 }
 
@@ -58,9 +53,7 @@ goBuild {
 import com.github.jk1.license.render.*
 licenseReport {
   projects = [project,
-              project.rootProject.findProject(':sdks:java:harness'),
-              project.rootProject.findProject(':sdks:java:io:kafka'),
-              project.rootProject.findProject(':sdks:java:io:jdbc')]
+              project.rootProject.findProject(':sdks:java:harness')]
   excludeOwnGroup = true
   excludeGroups = ["beam.*"] // project dependencies do not match their maven coords
   configurations = ALL
diff --git a/sdks/java/container/common.gradle b/sdks/java/container/common.gradle
index 1ec0da0098b5..d3f21096a620 100644
--- a/sdks/java/container/common.gradle
+++ b/sdks/java/container/common.gradle
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ task copyDockerfileDependencies(type: Copy) {
         rename 'beam-sdks-java-container-agent.*.jar', 'open-module-agent.jar'
     }
     rename 'beam-sdks-java-harness-.*.jar', 'beam-sdks-java-harness.jar'
-    rename 'beam-sdks-java-io-kafka.*.jar', 'beam-sdks-java-io-kafka.jar'
-    rename 'kafka-clients.*.jar', 'kafka-clients.jar'
     rename 'jamm.*.jar', 'jamm.jar'
 
     setDuplicatesStrategy(DuplicatesStrategy.INCLUDE)