diff --git a/.changeset/kind-experts-lay.md b/.changeset/kind-experts-lay.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..00524bfe3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/kind-experts-lay.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-react': minor
+---
+
+**BREAKING**: Removed the deprecated `loadCatalogOwnerRefs` function. Usages of this function can be directly replaced with `ownershipEntityRefs` from `identityApi.getBackstageIdentity()`.
+
+This also affects the `useEntityOwnership` hook in that it no longer uses `loadCatalogOwnerRefs`, meaning it will no longer load in additional relations and instead only rely on the `ownershipEntityRefs` from the `IdentityApi`.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/api-report.md b/plugins/catalog-react/api-report.md
index e85f8d3c63..4912c857cf 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/api-report.md
@@ -443,12 +443,6 @@ export function InspectEntityDialog(props: {
 // @alpha
 export function isOwnerOf(owner: Entity, entity: Entity): boolean;
 
-// @public @deprecated
-export function loadCatalogOwnerRefs(
-  catalogApi: CatalogApi,
-  identityOwnerRefs: string[],
-): Promise<string[]>;
-
 // @public (undocumented)
 export const MockEntityListContextProvider: ({
   children,
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/index.ts b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/index.ts
index 40183c1035..3570ed897c 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/index.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/index.ts
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ export { useEntityTypeFilter } from './useEntityTypeFilter';
 export { useRelatedEntities } from './useRelatedEntities';
 export { useStarredEntities } from './useStarredEntities';
 export { useStarredEntity } from './useStarredEntity';
-export { loadCatalogOwnerRefs, useEntityOwnership } from './useEntityOwnership';
+export { useEntityOwnership } from './useEntityOwnership';
 export { useEntityPermission } from './useEntityPermission';
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.test.tsx b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.test.tsx
index 4730f71a7d..d4d80203d3 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.test.tsx
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.test.tsx
@@ -15,18 +15,13 @@
  */
 
 import { CatalogApi } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
-import {
-  ComponentEntity,
-  RELATION_MEMBER_OF,
-  RELATION_OWNED_BY,
-  UserEntity,
-} from '@backstage/catalog-model';
+import { ComponentEntity, RELATION_OWNED_BY } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { IdentityApi, identityApiRef } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
 import { TestApiProvider } from '@backstage/test-utils';
 import { renderHook } from '@testing-library/react-hooks';
 import React from 'react';
 import { catalogApiRef } from '../api';
-import { loadCatalogOwnerRefs, useEntityOwnership } from './useEntityOwnership';
+import { useEntityOwnership } from './useEntityOwnership';
 
 describe('useEntityOwnership', () => {
   type MockIdentityApi = jest.Mocked<Pick<IdentityApi, 'getBackstageIdentity'>>;
@@ -77,55 +72,10 @@ describe('useEntityOwnership', () => {
     ],
   };
 
-  const user2Entity: UserEntity = {
-    apiVersion: 'backstage.io/v1beta1',
-    kind: 'User',
-    metadata: {
-      name: 'user2',
-      namespace: 'default',
-    },
-    spec: {
-      /* should not be accessed */
-    } as any,
-    relations: [
-      {
-        type: RELATION_MEMBER_OF,
-        targetRef: 'group:default/group1',
-        target: { kind: 'Group', namespace: 'default', name: 'group1' },
-      },
-    ],
-  };
-
   afterEach(() => {
     jest.resetAllMocks();
   });
 
-  describe('loadCatalogOwnerRefs', () => {
-    it('loads the first user from the catalog', async () => {
-      mockCatalogApi.getEntityByRef.mockResolvedValueOnce(user2Entity);
-      await expect(
-        loadCatalogOwnerRefs(catalogApi, ['user:default/user2']),
-      ).resolves.toEqual(['group:default/group1']);
-      expect(mockCatalogApi.getEntityByRef).toBeCalledWith({
-        kind: 'user',
-        namespace: 'default',
-        name: 'user2',
-      });
-    });
-
-    it('gracefully handles missing user', async () => {
-      mockCatalogApi.getEntityByRef.mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined);
-      await expect(
-        loadCatalogOwnerRefs(catalogApi, ['user:default/user2']),
-      ).resolves.toEqual([]);
-      expect(mockCatalogApi.getEntityByRef).toBeCalledWith({
-        kind: 'user',
-        namespace: 'default',
-        name: 'user2',
-      });
-    });
-  });
-
   describe('useEntityOwnership', () => {
     it('matches ownership via ownership entity refs', async () => {
       mockIdentityApi.getBackstageIdentity.mockResolvedValue({
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.ts b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.ts
index 55b4e75ace..f8a37a2c83 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-react/src/hooks/useEntityOwnership.ts
@@ -14,56 +14,16 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { CatalogApi } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
 import {
   Entity,
-  parseEntityRef,
-  RELATION_MEMBER_OF,
   RELATION_OWNED_BY,
   stringifyEntityRef,
 } from '@backstage/catalog-model';
 import { identityApiRef, useApi } from '@backstage/core-plugin-api';
 import { useMemo } from 'react';
 import useAsync from 'react-use/lib/useAsync';
-import { catalogApiRef } from '../api';
 import { getEntityRelations } from '../utils/getEntityRelations';
 
-/**
- * Takes the relevant parts of the User entity corresponding to the Backstage
- * identity, and translates them into a list of entity refs on string form that
- * represent the user's ownership connections.
- *
- * @public
- *
- * @param catalogApi - The Catalog API implementation
- * @param identityOwnerRefs - List of identity owner refs as strings
- * @returns OwnerRefs as a string array
- * @deprecated Use `ownershipEntityRefs` from `identityApi.getBackstageIdentity()` instead.
- */
-export async function loadCatalogOwnerRefs(
-  catalogApi: CatalogApi,
-  identityOwnerRefs: string[],
-): Promise<string[]> {
-  const result = new Array<string>();
-
-  const primaryUserRef = identityOwnerRefs.find(ref => ref.startsWith('user:'));
-  if (primaryUserRef) {
-    const entity = await catalogApi.getEntityByRef(
-      parseEntityRef(primaryUserRef),
-    );
-    if (entity) {
-      const memberOf = getEntityRelations(entity, RELATION_MEMBER_OF, {
-        kind: 'Group',
-      });
-      for (const group of memberOf) {
-        result.push(stringifyEntityRef(group));
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  return result;
-}
-
 /**
  * Returns a function that checks whether the currently signed-in user is an
  * owner of a given entity. When the hook is initially mounted, the loading
@@ -79,16 +39,11 @@ export function useEntityOwnership(): {
   isOwnedEntity: (entity: Entity) => boolean;
 } {
   const identityApi = useApi(identityApiRef);
-  const catalogApi = useApi(catalogApiRef);
 
   // Trigger load only on mount
   const { loading, value: refs } = useAsync(async () => {
     const { ownershipEntityRefs } = await identityApi.getBackstageIdentity();
-    const catalogRefs = await loadCatalogOwnerRefs(
-      catalogApi,
-      ownershipEntityRefs,
-    );
-    return new Set([...ownershipEntityRefs, ...catalogRefs]);
+    return ownershipEntityRefs;
   }, []);
 
   const isOwnedEntity = useMemo(() => {