diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser.java
index 43aefc95329..3175b8ffb40 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/config/AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser.java
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinitionHolder;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.RuntimeBeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.BeanComponentDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.CompositeComponentDefinition;
@@ -60,7 +59,6 @@ import org.springframework.http.converter.xml.SourceHttpMessageConverter;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
-import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.xml.DomUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.HttpRequestHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.accept.ContentNegotiationManager;
@@ -664,27 +662,6 @@ class AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser implements BeanDefinitionParser {
 		return list;
 	}
 
-    private ManagedList<BeanReference> extractBeanRefSubElements(Element parentElement, ParserContext parserContext){
-        ManagedList<BeanReference> list = new ManagedList<>();
-        list.setSource(parserContext.extractSource(parentElement));
-        for (Element refElement : DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(parentElement, "ref")) {
-            BeanReference reference;
-            if (StringUtils.hasText("bean")) {
-                reference = new RuntimeBeanReference(refElement.getAttribute("bean"),false);
-                list.add(reference);
-            }
-			else if (StringUtils.hasText("parent")){
-                reference = new RuntimeBeanReference(refElement.getAttribute("parent"),true);
-                list.add(reference);
-            }
-			else {
-                parserContext.getReaderContext().error("'bean' or 'parent' attribute is required for <ref> element",
-                        parserContext.extractSource(parentElement));
-            }
-        }
-        return list;
-    }
-
 
 	/**
 	 * A FactoryBean for a CompositeUriComponentsContributor that obtains the