diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/sources/filters.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/sources/filters.scala
index af5e4f5ef5a9f..a52bca1066059 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/sources/filters.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/sources/filters.scala
@@ -64,13 +64,6 @@ sealed abstract class Filter {
     this.references.map(parseColumnPath(_).toArray)
   }
 
-  /**
-   * If any of the references of this filter contains nested column
-   */
-  private[sql] def containsNestedColumn: Boolean = {
-    this.v2references.exists(_.length > 1)
-  }
-
   /**
    * Converts V1 filter to V2 filter
    */