diff --git a/lib/manager/cocoapods/index.ts b/lib/manager/cocoapods/index.ts
index 0a67cf1b27e77eb389496c79b358bc23f4e6462a..783738d2bc720961f23a3e1a3c1f1a821cf11216 100644
--- a/lib/manager/cocoapods/index.ts
+++ b/lib/manager/cocoapods/index.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import * as rubyVersioning from '../../versioning/ruby';
 
 export { extractPackageFile } from './extract';
-export { updateDependency } from './update';
 export { updateArtifacts } from './artifacts';
 
 export const defaultConfig = {
diff --git a/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.spec.ts b/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.spec.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index b87aa8b77769b8c9ac787f033ad4f8c4294ee0e0..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.spec.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-import fs from 'fs-extra';
-import path from 'path';
-import { updateDependency } from '.';
-
-const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(
-  path.resolve(__dirname, './__fixtures__/Podfile.simple'),
-  'utf-8'
-);
-
-describe('lib/manager/cocoapods/update', () => {
-  describe('updateDependency', () => {
-    it('handles undefined lines', () => {
-      const upgrade = {
-        depName: 'b',
-        managerData: { lineNumber: 999999999 },
-        currentValue: '1.2.3',
-        newValue: '2.0.0',
-      };
-      const res = updateDependency({ fileContent, upgrade });
-      expect(res).toBeNull();
-    });
-    it('replaces existing value', () => {
-      const upgrade = {
-        depName: 'b',
-        managerData: { lineNumber: 4 },
-        currentValue: '1.2.3',
-        newValue: '2.0.0',
-      };
-      const res = updateDependency({ fileContent, upgrade });
-      expect(res).not.toEqual(fileContent);
-      expect(res.includes(upgrade.newValue)).toBe(true);
-    });
-    it('returns same content', () => {
-      const upgrade = {
-        depName: 'b',
-        managerData: { lineNumber: 4 },
-        currentValue: '1.2.3',
-        newValue: '1.2.3',
-      };
-      const res = updateDependency({ fileContent, upgrade });
-      expect(res).toEqual(fileContent);
-      expect(res).toBe(fileContent);
-    });
-    it('returns null', () => {
-      const upgrade = {
-        depName: 'b',
-        managerData: { lineNumber: 0 },
-        currentValue: '1.2.3',
-        newValue: '2.0.0',
-      };
-      const res = updateDependency({ fileContent, upgrade });
-      expect(res).toBeNull();
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.ts b/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ac8b81ab17335e858bda633b024f98ef29a297af..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/lib/manager/cocoapods/update.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-import { logger } from '../../logger';
-import { UpdateDependencyConfig } from '../common';
-import { parseLine } from './extract';
-
-function lineContainsDep(line: string, dep: string): boolean {
-  const { depName } = parseLine(line);
-  return dep === depName;
-}
-
-export function updateDependency({
-  fileContent,
-  upgrade,
-}: UpdateDependencyConfig): string | null {
-  const { currentValue, managerData, depName, newValue } = upgrade;
-
-  // istanbul ignore if
-  if (!currentValue || !managerData || !depName) {
-    logger.warn('Cocoapods: invalid upgrade object');
-    return null;
-  }
-
-  logger.debug(`cocoapods.updateDependency: ${newValue}`);
-
-  const lines = fileContent.split('\n');
-  const lineToChange = lines[managerData.lineNumber];
-
-  if (!lineToChange) {
-    logger.warn(
-      { fileContent, depName, currentValue, newValue },
-      'Undefined cocoapods lineToChange'
-    );
-    return null;
-  }
-
-  if (!lineContainsDep(lineToChange, depName)) {
-    return null;
-  }
-
-  const regex = new RegExp(`(['"])${currentValue.replace('.', '\\.')}\\1`);
-  const newLine = lineToChange.replace(regex, `$1${newValue}$1`);
-
-  if (newLine === lineToChange) {
-    logger.debug('No changes necessary');
-    return fileContent;
-  }
-
-  lines[managerData.lineNumber] = newLine;
-  return lines.join('\n');
-}