diff --git a/.changeset/serious-mayflies-thank.md b/.changeset/serious-mayflies-thank.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3c5e31527
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/serious-mayflies-thank.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-catalog-backend': minor
+---
+
+**Breaking**: Removed optional `handleError()` from `CatalogProcessor`. This optional method is never called by the catalog processing engine and can therefore be removed.
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
index 9b4db418b3..23aae02610 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
@@ -300,11 +300,6 @@ export type CatalogProcessor = {
     emit: CatalogProcessorEmit,
     cache: CatalogProcessorCache,
   ): Promise<Entity>;
-  handleError?(
-    error: Error,
-    location: LocationSpec,
-    emit: CatalogProcessorEmit,
-  ): Promise<void>;
 };
 
 // @public
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/types.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/types.ts
index 879b4d32a8..80beda4213 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/types.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/ingestion/processors/types.ts
@@ -116,20 +116,6 @@ export type CatalogProcessor = {
     emit: CatalogProcessorEmit,
     cache: CatalogProcessorCache,
   ): Promise<Entity>;
-
-  /**
-   * Handles an emitted error.
-   *
-   * @param error - The error
-   * @param location - The location where the error occurred
-   * @param emit - A sink for items resulting from this handling
-   * @returns Nothing
-   */
-  handleError?(
-    error: Error,
-    location: LocationSpec,
-    emit: CatalogProcessorEmit,
-  ): Promise<void>;
 };
 
 /**