diff --git a/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc b/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
index 4c30193e2..11b205383 100644
--- a/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
+++ b/src/libfetchers/tarball.cc
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ DownloadFileResult downloadFile(
         request.expectedETag = getStrAttr(cached->infoAttrs, "etag");
     FileTransferResult res;
     try {
-        res = getFileTransfer()->transfer(request);
+        res = getFileTransfer()->enqueueFileTransfer(request).get();
     } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
         if (cached) {
             warn("%s; using cached version", e.msg());
diff --git a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index c086911b0..95254a78a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -868,11 +868,6 @@ ref<FileTransfer> makeFileTransfer()
     return makeCurlFileTransfer();
 }
 
-FileTransferResult FileTransfer::transfer(const FileTransferRequest & request)
-{
-    return enqueueFileTransfer(request).get();
-}
-
 template<typename... Args>
 FileTransferError::FileTransferError(FileTransfer::Error error, std::optional<std::string> response, const Args & ... args)
     : Error(args...), error(error), response(response)
diff --git a/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh b/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
index db441d6ef..4865fb59b 100644
--- a/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/filetransfer.hh
@@ -94,11 +94,6 @@ struct FileTransfer
      */
     virtual std::future<FileTransferResult> enqueueFileTransfer(const FileTransferRequest & request) = 0;
 
-    /**
-     * Synchronously transfer a file.
-     */
-    FileTransferResult transfer(const FileTransferRequest & request);
-
     /**
      * Download a file, returning its contents through a source. Will not return
      * before the transfer has fully started, ensuring that any errors thrown by
diff --git a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
index ea75768bd..36049b325 100644
--- a/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/http-binary-cache-store.cc
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ protected:
         try {
             FileTransferRequest request{makeURI(path)};
             request.head = true;
-            getFileTransfer()->transfer(request);
+            getFileTransfer()->enqueueFileTransfer(request).get();
             return true;
         } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
             /* S3 buckets return 403 if a file doesn't exist and the
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ protected:
         req.data = StreamToSourceAdapter(istream).drain();
         req.headers = {{"Content-Type", mimeType}};
         try {
-            getFileTransfer()->transfer(req);
+            getFileTransfer()->enqueueFileTransfer(req).get();
         } catch (FileTransferError & e) {
             throw UploadToHTTP("while uploading to HTTP binary cache at '%s': %s", cacheUri, e.msg());
         }
diff --git a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
index 19f598874..791cdab64 100644
--- a/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
+++ b/src/nix/upgrade-nix.cc
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ struct CmdUpgradeNix : MixDryRun, EvalCommand
 
         // FIXME: use nixos.org?
         auto req = FileTransferRequest(storePathsUrl);
-        auto res = getFileTransfer()->transfer(req);
+        auto res = getFileTransfer()->enqueueFileTransfer(req).get();
 
         auto state = std::make_unique<EvalState>(SearchPath{}, store);
         auto v = state->allocValue();
diff --git a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
index fd4d326f0..1d8d0d5d7 100644
--- a/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
+++ b/tests/unit/libstore/filetransfer.cc
@@ -163,8 +163,9 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(reportsSetupErrors))
     auto [port, srv] = serveHTTP("404 not found", "", [] { return ""; });
     auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
     ASSERT_THROW(
-        ft->transfer(FileTransferRequest(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port))),
-        FileTransferError);
+        ft->enqueueFileTransfer(FileTransferRequest(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/index", port))).get(),
+        FileTransferError
+    );
 }
 
 TEST(FileTransfer, NOT_ON_DARWIN(defersFailures))
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@ TEST(FileTransfer, usesIntermediateLinkHeaders)
     auto ft = makeFileTransfer();
     FileTransferRequest req(fmt("http://[::1]:%d/first", port));
     req.baseRetryTimeMs = 0;
-    auto result = ft->transfer(req);
+    auto result = ft->enqueueFileTransfer(req).get();
     ASSERT_EQ(result.immutableUrl, "http://foo");
 }