diff --git a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/test/clangdtests.cpp b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/test/clangdtests.cpp
index b25083faacb..bc970960d15 100644
--- a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/test/clangdtests.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/test/clangdtests.cpp
@@ -1432,7 +1432,6 @@ ClangdTestCompletion::ClangdTestCompletion()
 void ClangdTestCompletion::initTestCase()
 {
     ClangdTest::initTestCase();
-    client()->forceHighlightingOnEmptyDelta();
     startCollectingHighlightingInfo();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/client.cpp b/src/plugins/languageclient/client.cpp
index c70e87efa3a..7605d900605 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/client.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/client.cpp
@@ -1016,13 +1016,6 @@ void Client::setSemanticTokensHandler(const SemanticTokensHandler &handler)
     m_tokenSupport.setTokensHandler(handler);
 }
 
-#ifdef WITH_TESTS
-void Client::forceHighlightingOnEmptyDelta()
-{
-    m_tokenSupport.forceHighlightingOnEmptyDelta();
-}
-#endif
-
 void Client::setSymbolStringifier(const LanguageServerProtocol::SymbolStringifier &stringifier)
 {
     m_symbolStringifier = stringifier;
diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/client.h b/src/plugins/languageclient/client.h
index a5821732a92..c9e241d47b5 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/client.h
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/client.h
@@ -195,10 +195,6 @@ public:
     void log(const LanguageServerProtocol::ResponseError<Error> &responseError) const
     { log(responseError.toString()); }
 
-#ifdef WITH_TESTS
-    void forceHighlightingOnEmptyDelta();
-#endif
-
 signals:
     void initialized(const LanguageServerProtocol::ServerCapabilities &capabilities);
     void capabilitiesChanged(const DynamicCapabilities &capabilities);
diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.cpp b/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.cpp
index 57707c3271a..24fb346ff0b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.cpp
@@ -387,8 +387,7 @@ void SemanticTokenSupport::handleSemanticTokensDelta(
     } else if (auto tokensDelta = Utils::get_if<SemanticTokensDelta>(&result)) {
         QList<SemanticTokensEdit> edits = tokensDelta->edits();
         if (edits.isEmpty()) {
-            if (m_highlightOnEmptyDelta)
-                highlight(filePath);
+            highlight(filePath);
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.h b/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.h
index b1144ec5a73..03fc2445fa1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.h
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/semantichighlightsupport.h
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ public:
 //    void setAdditionalTokenModifierStyles(const QHash<int, TextEditor::TextStyle> &modifierStyles);
 
     void setTokensHandler(const SemanticTokensHandler &handler) { m_tokensHandler = handler; }
-    void forceHighlightingOnEmptyDelta() { m_highlightOnEmptyDelta = true; }
 
 private:
     LanguageServerProtocol::SemanticRequestTypes supportedSemanticRequests(
@@ -107,7 +106,6 @@ private:
     SemanticTokensHandler m_tokensHandler;
     QStringList m_tokenTypeStrings;
     QStringList m_tokenModifierStrings;
-    bool m_highlightOnEmptyDelta = false;
 };
 
 } // namespace LanguageClient