diff --git a/reftable/stack.c b/reftable/stack.c
index 8729508dc3..7ffeb3ee10 100644
--- a/reftable/stack.c
+++ b/reftable/stack.c
@@ -425,9 +425,6 @@ int reftable_stack_add(struct reftable_stack *st,
 		return err;
 	}
 
-	if (!st->disable_auto_compact)
-		return reftable_stack_auto_compact(st);
-
 	return 0;
 }