diff --git a/lib/manager/npm/extract/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap b/lib/manager/npm/extract/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
index b071d9868a4c09321003c9afa3f154075efd6005..a00e9bb99c958e30a9d066973438c6cdf261e30d 100644
--- a/lib/manager/npm/extract/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/manager/npm/extract/__snapshots__/index.spec.ts.snap
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ Object {
       "skipReason": "invalid-name",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -135,7 +134,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "engine",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -299,7 +297,6 @@ Object {
       "sourceUrl": "https://github.com/owner/n",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -349,7 +346,6 @@ Object {
       "skipReason": "unknown-version",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -410,7 +406,6 @@ Object {
       "skipReason": "unknown-volta",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -465,7 +460,6 @@ Object {
       "skipReason": "unknown-version",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -602,7 +596,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "resolutions",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": "npm",
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -739,7 +732,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "resolutions",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": "yarn",
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -876,7 +868,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "resolutions",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -899,7 +890,6 @@ exports[`manager/npm/extract .extractPackageFile() finds complex yarn workspaces
 Object {
   "constraints": Object {},
   "deps": Array [],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": "npm",
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -1038,7 +1028,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "resolutions",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": "npm",
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -1061,7 +1050,6 @@ exports[`manager/npm/extract .extractPackageFile() finds simple yarn workspaces
 Object {
   "constraints": Object {},
   "deps": Array [],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": "npm",
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -1086,7 +1074,6 @@ exports[`manager/npm/extract .extractPackageFile() finds simple yarn workspaces
 Object {
   "constraints": Object {},
   "deps": Array [],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
@@ -1225,7 +1212,6 @@ Object {
       "prettyDepType": "resolutions",
     },
   ],
-  "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
   "lernaClient": undefined,
   "lernaPackages": undefined,
   "managerData": Object {
diff --git a/lib/manager/npm/extract/index.ts b/lib/manager/npm/extract/index.ts
index 6bcf65e0df4bd790e800cd81c083be4a7c2d1c37..838127aaa19fee655bf866acfaafe19e2994fd6d 100644
--- a/lib/manager/npm/extract/index.ts
+++ b/lib/manager/npm/extract/index.ts
@@ -6,11 +6,7 @@ import * as datasourceGithubTags from '../../../datasource/github-tags';
 import { id as npmId } from '../../../datasource/npm';
 import { logger } from '../../../logger';
 import { SkipReason } from '../../../types';
-import {
-  deleteLocalFile,
-  getSiblingFileName,
-  readLocalFile,
-} from '../../../util/fs';
+import { getSiblingFileName, readLocalFile } from '../../../util/fs';
 import * as nodeVersioning from '../../../versioning/node';
 import { isValid, isVersion } from '../../../versioning/npm';
 import type {
@@ -95,11 +91,10 @@ export async function extractPackageFile(
   delete lockFiles.shrinkwrapJson;
 
   let npmrc: string;
-  let ignoreNpmrcFile: boolean;
   const npmrcFileName = getSiblingFileName(fileName, '.npmrc');
   // istanbul ignore if
   if (config.ignoreNpmrcFile) {
-    await deleteLocalFile(npmrcFileName);
+    npmrc = '';
   } else {
     npmrc = await readLocalFile(npmrcFileName, 'utf8');
     if (is.string(npmrc)) {
@@ -370,7 +365,6 @@ export async function extractPackageFile(
     packageFileVersion,
     packageJsonType,
     npmrc,
-    ignoreNpmrcFile,
     yarnrc,
     ...lockFiles,
     managerData: {
diff --git a/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.ts b/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.ts
index e966a58a6a1fb1f2710aedb4feae4d86693a14aa..64d5ef21d0f8bcb81366e8ae5a0ef42cfc59d777 100644
--- a/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.ts
+++ b/lib/manager/npm/post-update/index.ts
@@ -140,9 +140,6 @@ export async function writeExistingFiles(
     const npmrcFilename = upath.join(basedir, '.npmrc');
     if (is.string(npmrc)) {
       await outputFile(npmrcFilename, `${npmrc}\n`);
-    } else if (config.ignoreNpmrcFile) {
-      logger.debug('Removing ignored .npmrc file before artifact generation');
-      await remove(npmrcFilename);
     }
     if (packageFile.yarnrc) {
       logger.debug(`Writing .yarnrc to ${basedir}`);
diff --git a/lib/manager/types.ts b/lib/manager/types.ts
index 1d8693d3fe51414dbb0d356cda6fdde876ce422d..cd70ded36456717556d496f4ba9ea6137cabb92c 100644
--- a/lib/manager/types.ts
+++ b/lib/manager/types.ts
@@ -85,7 +85,6 @@ export interface PackageFile<T = Record<string, any>>
   datasource?: string;
   registryUrls?: string[];
   deps: PackageDependency[];
-  ignoreNpmrcFile?: boolean;
   lernaClient?: string;
   lernaPackages?: string[];
   mavenProps?: Record<string, any>;
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/extract/__snapshots__/manager-files.spec.ts.snap b/lib/workers/repository/extract/__snapshots__/manager-files.spec.ts.snap
index 7b05cb15e52b9f236495581a3a6c26835f863c16..52bad56bc98bae5470aaa15e69a8b3c9cba47a82 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/extract/__snapshots__/manager-files.spec.ts.snap
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/extract/__snapshots__/manager-files.spec.ts.snap
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ Array [
         "prettyDepType": "dependency",
       },
     ],
-    "ignoreNpmrcFile": undefined,
     "lernaClient": undefined,
     "lernaPackages": undefined,
     "managerData": Object {