diff --git a/pkg/engine/utils/match.go b/pkg/engine/utils/match.go
index 9f52efdaf2..4d7519303b 100644
--- a/pkg/engine/utils/match.go
+++ b/pkg/engine/utils/match.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 
 	kyvernov1 "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/api/kyverno/v1"
 	kyvernov1beta1 "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/api/kyverno/v1beta1"
@@ -286,40 +285,3 @@ func matchesResourceDescriptionExcludeHelper(
 	// len(errs) != 0 if the filter excluded the resource
 	return errs
 }
-
-// excludeResource checks if the resource has ownerRef set
-func excludeResource(podControllers string, resource unstructured.Unstructured) bool {
-	kind := resource.GetKind()
-	hasOwner := false
-	if kind == "Pod" || kind == "Job" {
-		for _, owner := range resource.GetOwnerReferences() {
-			hasOwner = true
-			if owner.Kind != "ReplicaSet" && !strings.Contains(podControllers, owner.Kind) {
-				return false
-			}
-		}
-		return hasOwner
-	}
-
-	return false
-}
-
-// ManagedPodResource returns true:
-// - if the policy has auto-gen annotation && resource == Pod
-// - if the auto-gen contains cronJob && resource == Job
-func ManagedPodResource(policy kyvernov1.PolicyInterface, resource unstructured.Unstructured) bool {
-	podControllers, ok := policy.GetAnnotations()[kyvernov1.PodControllersAnnotation]
-	if !ok || strings.ToLower(podControllers) == "none" {
-		return false
-	}
-
-	if excludeResource(podControllers, resource) {
-		return true
-	}
-
-	if strings.Contains(podControllers, "CronJob") && excludeResource(podControllers, resource) {
-		return true
-	}
-
-	return false
-}
diff --git a/pkg/engine/utils/utils_test.go b/pkg/engine/utils/utils_test.go
index 6ddb7ed385..415b2f1261 100644
--- a/pkg/engine/utils/utils_test.go
+++ b/pkg/engine/utils/utils_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/api/kyverno/v1beta1"
 	"github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/autogen"
 	kubeutils "github.com/kyverno/kyverno/pkg/utils/kube"
-	"gotest.tools/assert"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
@@ -2469,71 +2468,3 @@ func TestResourceDescriptionExclude_Label_Expression_Match(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("Testcase has failed due to the following:\n Function has returned no error, even though it was supposed to fail")
 	}
 }
-
-func TestManagedPodResource(t *testing.T) {
-	testCases := []struct {
-		name           string
-		policy         []byte
-		resource       []byte
-		expectedResult bool
-	}{
-		{
-			name:           "disable-autogen-pod-without-owner",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "none"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test"}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "disable-autogen-pod-with-owner",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "none"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "Deployment"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "disable-autogen",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod"}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "Deployment"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "enable-autogen-pod-without-owner",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "Deployment"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test"}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "enable-autogen-pod-with-matched-owner",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "Deployment"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "Deployment"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "enable-autogen-pod-with-unmatched-owner",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "Deployment"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "Challenge"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "enable-autogen-pod-with-owner-rs",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "Deployment,StatefulSet"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "ReplicaSet"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: true,
-		},
-		{
-			name:           "enable-autogen-pod-with-multiple-owners",
-			policy:         []byte(`{"apiVersion": "kyverno.io/v1","kind": "ClusterPolicy","metadata": {"name": "test-managedPod","annotations": {"pod-policies.kyverno.io/autogen-controllers": "Deployment,StatefulSet"}}}`),
-			resource:       []byte(`{"apiVersion": "v1","kind": "Pod","metadata": {"name": "test","ownerReferences": [{"kind": "Deployment"},{"kind": "Challenge"}]}}`),
-			expectedResult: false,
-		},
-	}
-
-	for i, tc := range testCases {
-		var policy v1.ClusterPolicy
-		err := json.Unmarshal(tc.policy, &policy)
-		assert.Assert(t, err == nil, "Test %d/%s invalid policy raw: %v", i+1, tc.name, err)
-
-		resource, _ := kubeutils.BytesToUnstructured(tc.resource)
-		res := ManagedPodResource(&policy, *resource)
-		assert.Equal(t, res, tc.expectedResult, "test %d/%s failed, expect %v, got %v", i+1, tc.name, tc.expectedResult, res)
-	}
-}