diff --git a/app/celery_app.py b/app/celery_app.py
index 164cbaf..c0624ca 100644
--- a/app/celery_app.py
+++ b/app/celery_app.py
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ def make_celery(app=None):
             'app.tasks.scan.cleanup_old_tasks': {'queue': 'maintenance'},
             'app.tasks.scan.update_system_stats': {'queue': 'maintenance'},
             'app.tasks.scan.update_batch_stats': {'queue': 'maintenance'},
-            'app.tasks.maintenance.sync_character_fandoms': {'queue': 'maintenance'},
 
             # Import tasks - handled by worker (heavy processing)
             'app.tasks.import_file.*': {'queue': 'import'},
diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index 99aec47..336e4d9 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -612,13 +612,6 @@ def trigger_recompute_all_centroids():
     return redirect(url_for('main.settings', tab='maintenance'))
 
 
-@main.post('/settings/maintenance/sync-character-fandoms')
-def trigger_sync_character_fandoms():
-    from app.tasks.maintenance import sync_character_fandoms
-    sync_character_fandoms.apply_async(queue='maintenance')
-    return redirect(url_for('main.settings', tab='maintenance'))
-
-
 # ----------------------------
 # Tag add/remove endpoints
 # ----------------------------
diff --git a/app/tasks/maintenance.py b/app/tasks/maintenance.py
index a381d9f..fa6b484 100644
--- a/app/tasks/maintenance.py
+++ b/app/tasks/maintenance.py
@@ -1,66 +1,4 @@
-"""Maintenance-queue Celery tasks. Lightweight, user-triggered, non-ML."""
-import logging
-from celery import shared_task
-from sqlalchemy import text
-
-from app import db
-from app.models import Tag
-
-log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-
-
-@shared_task(
-    name='app.tasks.maintenance.sync_character_fandoms',
-    soft_time_limit=120,
-    time_limit=180,
-)
-def sync_character_fandoms():
-    """For every character tag with a non-null fandom_id, attach the fandom
-    tag to every image tagged with the character but not the fandom.
-
-    Additive only — never removes fandom tags.
-
-    Returns a summary dict with counts.
-    """
-    chars = (
-        Tag.query
-        .filter_by(kind='character')
-        .filter(Tag.fandom_id.isnot(None))
-        .all()
-    )
-    total_added = 0
-    failed = 0
-    for char in chars:
-        try:
-            result = db.session.execute(
-                text("""
-                    INSERT INTO image_tags (image_id, tag_id)
-                    SELECT it.image_id, :fandom_id
-                    FROM image_tags it
-                    WHERE it.tag_id = :char_id
-                      AND NOT EXISTS (
-                          SELECT 1 FROM image_tags it2
-                          WHERE it2.image_id = it.image_id
-                            AND it2.tag_id = :fandom_id
-                      )
-                """),
-                {'char_id': char.id, 'fandom_id': char.fandom_id},
-            )
-            total_added += result.rowcount or 0
-            db.session.commit()
-        except Exception as e:
-            db.session.rollback()
-            failed += 1
-            log.warning(
-                "sync_character_fandoms: char tag %s (%s) failed: %s",
-                char.id, char.name, e,
-            )
-    log.info(
-        "sync_character_fandoms: scanned %d characters, added %d image↔fandom links, %d failed",
-        len(chars), total_added, failed,
-    )
-    return {
-        'characters_scanned': len(chars),
-        'links_added': total_added,
-        'characters_failed': failed,
-    }
+"""Maintenance-queue Celery tasks. Currently empty — the
+sync_character_fandoms task was removed on 2026-04-21 as part of the
+bare-name refactor (tag.fandom_id is now authoritative; no drift to sync).
+"""
diff --git a/app/templates/settings.html b/app/templates/settings.html
index 15ff437..d1991dd 100644
--- a/app/templates/settings.html
+++ b/app/templates/settings.html
@@ -456,14 +456,6 @@
         <button type="submit" class="btn secondary-btn">Recompute all centroids</button>
       </form>
 
-      <p class="settings-hint mt-paragraph">
-        Attach each character's fandom to every image already tagged with that character.
-        Additive only — existing fandom tags are never removed. Run after you've set a
-        fandom on an existing character, or whenever you suspect drift.
-      </p>
-      <form action="{{ url_for('main.trigger_sync_character_fandoms') }}" method="post" onsubmit="return confirm('Enqueue character↔fandom sync for all tagged images?');">
-        <button type="submit" class="btn secondary-btn">Sync character fandoms to images</button>
-      </form>
     </section>
   </div>
 </div>