diff --git a/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yaml b/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yaml
index 23942d475fcd2ab444e00ab4bc62b0102b3e7d0e..f9bac65033685262cfff3bf6933369bf008fedc6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bootstrap.yaml
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ jobs:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITPROVIDER_BOT_TOKEN }}
       - name: delete repository
         run: |
-          /tmp/flux bootstrap github --manifests ./manifests/install/ \
-          --owner=fluxcd-testing \
-          --repository=flux-test-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }} \
-          --branch=main \
-          --path=test-cluster \
-          --delete
+          curl \
+            -X DELETE \
+            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
+            -H "Authorization: token ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
+            --fail --silent \
+            https://api.github.com/repos/fluxcd-testing/flux-test-${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITPROVIDER_BOT_TOKEN }}
       - name: Debug failure
diff --git a/cmd/flux/bootstrap_github.go b/cmd/flux/bootstrap_github.go
index 8fb48ac3f1f8ab0a263e706aa1660e4ddb06608e..e40efd0f679f9756ceaa4364ef7214c8d511e86d 100644
--- a/cmd/flux/bootstrap_github.go
+++ b/cmd/flux/bootstrap_github.go
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ type githubFlags struct {
 	hostname    string
 	path        flags.SafeRelativePath
 	teams       []string
-	delete      bool
 	sshHostname string
 }
 
@@ -101,9 +100,6 @@ func init() {
 	bootstrapGitHubCmd.Flags().StringVar(&githubArgs.sshHostname, "ssh-hostname", "", "GitHub SSH hostname, to be used when the SSH host differs from the HTTPS one")
 	bootstrapGitHubCmd.Flags().Var(&githubArgs.path, "path", "path relative to the repository root, when specified the cluster sync will be scoped to this path")
 
-	bootstrapGitHubCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&githubArgs.delete, "delete", false, "delete repository (used for testing only)")
-	bootstrapGitHubCmd.Flags().MarkHidden("delete")
-
 	bootstrapCmd.AddCommand(bootstrapGitHubCmd)
 }
 
@@ -163,14 +159,6 @@ func bootstrapGitHubCmdRun(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	}
 	defer os.RemoveAll(tmpDir)
 
-	if githubArgs.delete {
-		if err := provider.DeleteRepository(ctx, repository); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		logger.Successf("repository deleted")
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	// create GitHub repository if doesn't exists
 	logger.Actionf("connecting to %s", githubArgs.hostname)
 	changed, err := provider.CreateRepository(ctx, repository)