diff --git a/micrometer-core/build.gradle b/micrometer-core/build.gradle
index 643ca983e0..5c894dd4b5 100644
--- a/micrometer-core/build.gradle
+++ b/micrometer-core/build.gradle
@@ -38,10 +38,6 @@ dependencies {
     optionalApi 'ch.qos.logback:logback-classic'
     optionalApi 'org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core'
 
-    // reactor
-    optionalApi 'io.projectreactor:reactor-core'
-    optionalApi 'io.projectreactor.netty:reactor-netty-http'
-
     // @Timed AOP
     optionalApi 'org.aspectj:aspectjweaver'
 
diff --git a/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySender.java b/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySender.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a6cdb710e..0000000000
--- a/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySender.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,75 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright 2018 VMware, Inc.
- * <p>
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- * <p>
- * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * <p>
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-package io.micrometer.core.ipc.http;
-
-import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpMethod;
-import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
-import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
-import reactor.util.function.Tuple2;
-
-/**
- * {@link HttpSender} implementation based on the Reactor Netty {@link HttpClient}.
- *
- * @author Jon Schneider
- * @since 1.1.0
- * @deprecated use a different {@link HttpSender} implementation or report your use case for this to the Micrometer project maintainers
- */
-@Deprecated
-public class ReactorNettySender implements HttpSender {
-    private final HttpClient httpClient;
-
-    public ReactorNettySender(HttpClient httpClient) {
-        this.httpClient = httpClient;
-    }
-
-    public ReactorNettySender() {
-        this(HttpClient.create());
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public Response send(Request request) {
-        Tuple2<Integer, String> response = httpClient
-                .request(toNettyHttpMethod(request.getMethod()))
-                .uri(request.getUrl().toString())
-                .send((httpClientRequest, nettyOutbound) -> {
-                    request.getRequestHeaders().forEach(httpClientRequest::addHeader);
-                    return nettyOutbound.sendByteArray(Mono.just(request.getEntity()));
-                })
-                .responseSingle((r, body) -> Mono.just(r.status().code()).zipWith(body.asString().defaultIfEmpty("")))
-                .block();
-
-        return new Response(response.getT1(), response.getT2());
-    }
-
-    private HttpMethod toNettyHttpMethod(Method method) {
-        switch (method) {
-            case PUT:
-                return HttpMethod.PUT;
-            case POST:
-                return HttpMethod.POST;
-            case HEAD:
-                return HttpMethod.HEAD;
-            case GET:
-                return HttpMethod.GET;
-            case DELETE:
-                return HttpMethod.DELETE;
-            case OPTIONS:
-                return HttpMethod.OPTIONS;
-            default:
-                throw new UnsupportedOperationException("http method " + method.toString() + " is not supported by the reactor netty client");
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTests.java b/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTests.java
deleted file mode 100644
index cc640872ac..0000000000
--- a/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTests.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,48 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright 2019 VMware, Inc.
- * <p>
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- * <p>
- * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * <p>
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-package io.micrometer.core.ipc.http;
-
-import com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.WireMockServer;
-import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutException;
-import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
-import io.netty.handler.timeout.WriteTimeoutHandler;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
-import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
-import ru.lanwen.wiremock.ext.WiremockResolver;
-
-import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
-
-import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.*;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
-
-@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
-@ExtendWith(WiremockResolver.class)
-class ReactorNettySenderTests {
-    HttpSender httpSender = new ReactorNettySender();
-
-    @Test
-    void customReadTimeoutHonored(@WiremockResolver.Wiremock WireMockServer server) {
-        this.httpSender = new ReactorNettySender(HttpClient.create()
-                .doOnConnected(connection ->
-                        connection.addHandlerLast(new ReadTimeoutHandler(1, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))
-                                .addHandlerLast(new WriteTimeoutHandler(1, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))));
-        server.stubFor(any(urlEqualTo("/metrics")).willReturn(ok().withFixedDelay(5)));
-
-        assertThatExceptionOfType(ReadTimeoutException.class)
-                .isThrownBy(() -> httpSender.post(server.baseUrl() + "/metrics").send());
-    }
-}
diff --git a/micrometer-test/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTest.java b/micrometer-test/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 824f12eddf..0000000000
--- a/micrometer-test/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/ipc/http/ReactorNettySenderTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright 2018 VMware, Inc.
- * <p>
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- * <p>
- * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- * <p>
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-package io.micrometer.core.ipc.http;
-
-@Deprecated
-class ReactorNettySenderTest extends HttpSenderCompatibilityKit {
-    @Override
-    public HttpSender httpClient() {
-        return new ReactorNettySender();
-    }
-}