diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 3ed9da0c98..0e31612190 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -36,12 +36,3 @@ jobs:
       - run: mkdir dist -ea 0
       - run: go build -o dist ./cmd/...
       - run: go test -v ./mdtest
-  output-check:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-go@v5
-        with:
-          go-version-file: go.mod
-      - run: make install
-      - run: make output-check
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f003412d31..fd70c26c69 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 /bin/
 /dist/
-/zed-sample-data/
 node_modules/
 
 .idea
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a5460e09d4..dbe4596c81 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,13 +29,6 @@ tidy:
 	go mod tidy
 	git diff --exit-code -- go.mod go.sum
 
-SAMPLEDATA:=zed-sample-data/README.md
-
-$(SAMPLEDATA):
-	git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/brimdata/zed-sample-data $(@D)
-
-sampledata: $(SAMPLEDATA)
-
 bin/minio: Makefile
 	@curl -o $@ --compressed --create-dirs \
 		https://dl.min.io/server/minio/release/$$(go env GOOS)-$$(go env GOARCH)/archive/minio.RELEASE.2022-05-04T07-45-27Z
@@ -59,9 +52,6 @@ test-run: build bin/minio
 test-heavy: build
 	@PATH="$(CURDIR)/dist:$(PATH)" go test -tags=heavy ./mdtest
 
-output-check: build $(SAMPLEDATA)
-	scripts/output-check.sh
-
 build: $(PEG_DEP)
 	@mkdir -p dist
 	@go build -ldflags='$(LDFLAGS)' -o dist ./cmd/...
@@ -92,5 +82,5 @@ test-ci: fmt tidy vet test-generate test-unit test-system test-heavy
 clean:
 	@rm -rf dist
 
-.PHONY: fmt tidy vet test-unit test-system test-heavy sampledata test-ci
+.PHONY: fmt tidy vet test-unit test-system test-heavy test-ci
 .PHONY: build install clean generate test-generate
diff --git a/scripts/output-check.sh b/scripts/output-check.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 85bccd564a..0000000000
--- a/scripts/output-check.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,41 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# SuperDB is the only known tool set that outputs data in BSUP formats. Sample
-# BSUP data from super is stored in the https://github.com/brimdata/zed-sample-data
-# repo. Therefore, if a change in SuperDB causes the BSUP output format to change,
-# we'll want to know about it ASAP, since if it's a bug we'll want to fix it
-# in SuperDB, and if it's an intentional enhancement we'll want to update the BSUP
-# files in zed-sample-data so users are always finding a current copy.
-#
-# This script automates this check by running the Zeek TSV logs from
-# zed-sample-data through super, produces output in four BSUP variations, and
-# checks that the MD5 hashes for the outputs still match the hashes stored
-# in the zed-sample-data repo.
-
-# We're intentionally not running with "set -eo pipefail" because we want to
-# let all permutations run and allow the final error text to be seen before
-# explicitly returning the intended error code.
-
-cd zed-sample-data
-scripts/check_md5sums.sh bsup
-BSUP_SUCCESS="$?"
-echo
-scripts/check_md5sums.sh bsup-uncompressed
-BSUP_UNCOMPRESSED_SUCCESS="$?"
-echo
-scripts/check_md5sums.sh sup
-SUP_SUCCESS="$?"
-echo
-
-if (( BSUP_SUCCESS == 0 && BSUP_UNCOMPRESSED_SUCCESS == 0 && SUP_SUCCESS == 0)); then
-  exit 0
-else
-  echo
-  echo "------------------------------------------------------------------------------"
-  echo "Output format has changed. If your work intentionally changed BSUP or SUP"
-  echo "output and hence you do not suspect a bug, either update the zed-sample-data"
-  echo "repo with new output files and MD5 hashes to make this test pass, or open a SuperDB"
-  echo "issue and include the output from this script and someone else will take care"
-  echo "of it ASAP."
-  exit 1
-fi