diff --git a/OPTIONS.md b/OPTIONS.md
index 2175e8b30a0..3d742a08dee 100644
--- a/OPTIONS.md
+++ b/OPTIONS.md
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ Options:
   --no-hot                                                                           Disables Hot Module Replacement.
   --analyze                                                                          It invokes webpack-bundle-analyzer plugin to get bundle information.
   --progress [value]                                                                 Print compilation progress during build.
-  --prefetch <value>                                                                 Prefetch this request.
   -j, --json [value]                                                                 Prints result as JSON or store it in a file.
   --fail-on-warnings                                                                 Stop webpack-cli process with non-zero exit code on warnings from webpack
   --no-amd                                                                           Negative 'amd' option.
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/README.md b/packages/webpack-cli/README.md
index a50d0844752..a0466798b35 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/README.md
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/README.md
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ npx webpack-cli --help verbose
   --mode <value>                Defines the mode to pass to webpack.
   --name <value>                Name of the configuration. Used when loading multiple configurations.
   -o, --output-path <value>     Output location of the file generated by webpack e.g. ./dist/.
-  --prefetch <value>            Prefetch this request
   --stats [value]               It instructs webpack on how to treat the stats e.g. verbose.
   --no-stats                    Disable stats output.
   -t, --target <value...>       Sets the build target e.g. node.
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/src/plugins/CLIPlugin.ts b/packages/webpack-cli/src/plugins/CLIPlugin.ts
index d319fdcfeea..f53cc835187 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/src/plugins/CLIPlugin.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/src/plugins/CLIPlugin.ts
@@ -9,12 +9,6 @@ export class CLIPlugin {
     this.options = options;
   }
 
-  setupPrefetchPlugin(compiler: Compiler) {
-    const { PrefetchPlugin } = compiler.webpack || require("webpack");
-
-    new PrefetchPlugin(null, this.options.prefetch).apply(compiler);
-  }
-
   async setupBundleAnalyzerPlugin(compiler: Compiler) {
     // eslint-disable-next-line node/no-extraneous-require,@typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
     const { BundleAnalyzerPlugin } = require("webpack-bundle-analyzer");
@@ -111,10 +105,6 @@ export class CLIPlugin {
       this.setupProgressPlugin(compiler);
     }
 
-    if (this.options.prefetch) {
-      this.setupPrefetchPlugin(compiler);
-    }
-
     if (this.options.analyze) {
       this.setupBundleAnalyzerPlugin(compiler);
     }
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts b/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
index 8668a6f85c3..ee0a6e669d6 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/src/webpack-cli.ts
@@ -832,15 +832,6 @@ class WebpackCLI implements IWebpackCLI {
         ],
         description: "Print compilation progress during build.",
       },
-      {
-        name: "prefetch",
-        configs: [
-          {
-            type: "string",
-          },
-        ],
-        description: "Prefetch this request.",
-      },
 
       // Output options
       {
@@ -2301,7 +2292,6 @@ class WebpackCLI implements IWebpackCLI {
           configPath: config.path.get(item),
           helpfulOutput: !options.json,
           progress: options.progress,
-          prefetch: options.prefetch,
           analyze: options.analyze,
         }),
       );
diff --git a/test/build/prefetch/prefetch.test.js b/test/build/prefetch/prefetch.test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 3b1ca594e63..00000000000
--- a/test/build/prefetch/prefetch.test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-"use strict";
-
-const { join } = require("path");
-const { run, readFile } = require("../../utils/test-utils");
-// eslint-disable-next-line node/no-unpublished-require
-const rimraf = require("rimraf");
-
-describe("prefetch", () => {
-  afterEach(() => {
-    rimraf.sync(join(__dirname, "dist"));
-  });
-
-  it("should load the prefetched file", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = await run(__dirname, [
-      "--prefetch",
-      "./src/p.js",
-      "--mode",
-      "development",
-    ]);
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
-    expect(stderr).toBeFalsy();
-    expect(stdout).toBeTruthy();
-
-    const content = await readFile(join(__dirname, "/dist/main.js"), "utf-8");
-
-    expect(content).not.toContain("// no prefetching");
-  });
-
-  it("should log error when the prefetched file is absent", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = await run(__dirname, ["--prefetch", "./src/somefile.js"]);
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(1);
-    expect(stderr).toBeFalsy();
-    // Should contain the error message
-    expect(stdout).toContain(`Error: Can't resolve './src/somefile.js'`);
-  });
-
-  it("should log error when flag value is not supplied", async () => {
-    const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = await run(__dirname, ["--prefetch"]);
-
-    expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
-    expect(stderr).toContain(`Error: Option '--prefetch <value>' argument missing`);
-    expect(stdout).toBeFalsy();
-  });
-});
diff --git a/test/build/prefetch/src/index.js b/test/build/prefetch/src/index.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 59d0025c017..00000000000
--- a/test/build/prefetch/src/index.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-async function load() {
-    const value = await import (
-        /* webpackMode: "lazy" */
-        /* webpackPrefetch: true */
-        './p.js'
-    );
-    
-    console.log(value);
-}
-
-load();
diff --git a/test/build/prefetch/src/p.js b/test/build/prefetch/src/p.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cc132d2393a..00000000000
--- a/test/build/prefetch/src/p.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-console.log("HERE");
-
-module.exports = "async-value";
diff --git a/test/build/prefetch/webpack.config.js b/test/build/prefetch/webpack.config.js
deleted file mode 100644
index f053ebf7976..00000000000
--- a/test/build/prefetch/webpack.config.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-module.exports = {};