diff --git a/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix b/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
index 01dd1f3a..35c17345 100644
--- a/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
+++ b/deployment/check/common/targetNode.nix
@@ -58,24 +58,6 @@ in
       # # builds but won't boot back up
       # # to be used with --no-bootloader, which i could only find for flakes
       # boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
-
-      users.mutableUsers = false;
-      users.users.root = {
-        password = "password";
-        hashedPassword = null;
-        hashedPasswordFile = null;
-        openssh.authorizedKeys.keys =
-          let
-            keys = import ../../../keys;
-          in
-          lib.attrValues keys.contributors
-          ++ [
-            # allow our panel vm access to the test machines
-            keys.panel
-            # allow continuous deployment access
-            keys.cd
-          ];
-      };
     }
 
     (mkIf config.enableAcme {