diff --git a/beets/importer.py b/beets/importer.py
index 8aecf54a3..95163b6fd 100644
--- a/beets/importer.py
+++ b/beets/importer.py
@@ -547,23 +547,6 @@ class ImportTask(BaseImportTask):
 
         items = self.imported_items()
 
-        # If any original album art files were reused, leave them untouched.
-        for item in items:
-            album = item.get_album()
-            if album:
-                self.old_art_paths.discard(album.artpath)
-
-        # Delete remaining original album art files.
-        for old_art_path in self.old_art_paths:
-            log.debug('Deleting orphaned album art: {0}', old_art_path)
-            util.remove(syspath(old_art_path), True)
-            # XXX: Ideally the directory would get pruned with self.prune()
-            # below, but when calling `beet import -L`, self.toppath is set
-            # to None, making self.prune() a no-op; hence this workaround of
-            # calling util.prune_dirs() directly.
-            util.prune_dirs(os.path.dirname(old_art_path),
-                            clutter=config['clutter'].as_str_seq())
-
         # When copying and deleting originals, delete old files.
         if copy and delete:
             new_paths = [os.path.realpath(item.path) for item in items]
@@ -669,11 +652,6 @@ class ImportTask(BaseImportTask):
         # Save the original paths of all items for deletion and pruning
         # in the next step (finalization).
         self.old_paths = [item.path for item in items]
-
-        # Keep track of paths of all original album art for the same reason.
-        self.old_art_paths = set(filter(
-            bool, (album.artpath for album in self.replaced_albums.values())))
-
         for item in items:
             if move or copy or link:
                 # In copy and link modes, treat re-imports specially: