diff --git a/lib/config/massage.spec.ts b/lib/config/massage.spec.ts
index 117b3e5a7627bc7e7e110ea94239cc198dc25ee6..e4bccdb76c8b0539e2602045698ffcdedb3c807b 100644
--- a/lib/config/massage.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/config/massage.spec.ts
@@ -17,15 +17,6 @@ describe('config/massage', () => {
       expect(Array.isArray(res.schedule)).toBeTrue();
     });
 
-    it('massages npmToken', () => {
-      const config: RenovateConfig = {
-        npmToken: 'some-token',
-      };
-      expect(massage.massageConfig(config)).toEqual({
-        npmrc: '//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=some-token\n',
-      });
-    });
-
     it('massages packageRules matchUpdateTypes', () => {
       const config: RenovateConfig = {
         packageRules: [
diff --git a/lib/config/massage.ts b/lib/config/massage.ts
index c989fecf0723f92ce2cea61d3efbf14a2ba0800a..eb109d8f991326a8830ffa6cd21b448b43cba829 100644
--- a/lib/config/massage.ts
+++ b/lib/config/massage.ts
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ export function massageConfig(config: RenovateConfig): RenovateConfig {
   for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(config)) {
     if (allowedStrings.includes(key) && is.string(val)) {
       massagedConfig[key] = [val];
-    } else if (key === 'npmToken' && is.string(val) && val.length < 50) {
-      massagedConfig.npmrc = `//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${val}\n`;
-      delete massagedConfig.npmToken;
     } else if (is.array(val)) {
       massagedConfig[key] = [];
       val.forEach((item) => {