diff --git a/newsfragments/4489.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/4489.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3f11d73393
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/4489.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Removed lingering unused code around Distribution._patched_dist.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setuptools/command/egg_info.py b/setuptools/command/egg_info.py
index fd9b54a411..30b62f5f2e 100644
--- a/setuptools/command/egg_info.py
+++ b/setuptools/command/egg_info.py
@@ -250,16 +250,6 @@ def finalize_options(self):
         #
         self.distribution.metadata.version = self.egg_version
 
-        # If we bootstrapped around the lack of a PKG-INFO, as might be the
-        # case in a fresh checkout, make sure that any special tags get added
-        # to the version info
-        #
-        pd = self.distribution._patched_dist
-        if pd is not None and pd.key == self.egg_name.lower():
-            pd._version = self.egg_version
-            pd._parsed_version = packaging.version.Version(self.egg_version)
-            self.distribution._patched_dist = None
-
     def _get_egg_basename(self, py_version=PY_MAJOR, platform=None):
         """Compute filename of the output egg. Private API."""
         return _egg_basename(self.egg_name, self.egg_version, py_version, platform)
diff --git a/setuptools/dist.py b/setuptools/dist.py
index bcab50ba65..b4496ab986 100644
--- a/setuptools/dist.py
+++ b/setuptools/dist.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 import os
 import re
 import sys
-from contextlib import suppress
 from glob import iglob
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, MutableMapping
@@ -28,7 +27,6 @@
 from packaging.version import Version
 
 from . import _entry_points
-from . import _normalization
 from . import _reqs
 from . import command as _  # noqa  -- imported for side-effects
 from ._importlib import metadata
@@ -269,24 +267,9 @@ class Distribution(_Distribution):
         'extras_require': dict,
     }
 
-    _patched_dist = None
     # Used by build_py, editable_wheel and install_lib commands for legacy namespaces
     namespace_packages: list[str]  #: :meta private: DEPRECATED
 
-    def patch_missing_pkg_info(self, attrs):
-        # Fake up a replacement for the data that would normally come from
-        # PKG-INFO, but which might not yet be built if this is a fresh
-        # checkout.
-        #
-        if not attrs or 'name' not in attrs or 'version' not in attrs:
-            return
-        name = _normalization.safe_name(str(attrs['name'])).lower()
-        with suppress(metadata.PackageNotFoundError):
-            dist = metadata.distribution(name)
-            if dist is not None and not dist.read_text('PKG-INFO'):
-                dist._version = _normalization.safe_version(str(attrs['version']))
-                self._patched_dist = dist
-
     def __init__(self, attrs: MutableMapping | None = None) -> None:
         have_package_data = hasattr(self, "package_data")
         if not have_package_data:
@@ -295,7 +278,6 @@ def __init__(self, attrs: MutableMapping | None = None) -> None:
         self.dist_files: list[tuple[str, str, str]] = []
         # Filter-out setuptools' specific options.
         self.src_root = attrs.pop("src_root", None)
-        self.patch_missing_pkg_info(attrs)
         self.dependency_links = attrs.pop('dependency_links', [])
         self.setup_requires = attrs.pop('setup_requires', [])
         for ep in metadata.entry_points(group='distutils.setup_keywords'):