diff --git a/tests/scripts/tcp_client.pl b/tests/scripts/tcp_client.pl
deleted file mode 100755
index 9aff22db05..0000000000
--- a/tests/scripts/tcp_client.pl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,89 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env perl
-
-# A simple TCP client that sends some data and expects a response.
-# Usage: tcp_client.pl HOSTNAME PORT DATA1 RESPONSE1
-#   DATA: hex-encoded data to send to the server
-#   RESPONSE: regexp that must match the server's response
-#
-# Copyright The Mbed TLS Contributors
-# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-or-later
-
-use warnings;
-use strict;
-use IO::Socket::INET;
-
-# Pack hex digits into a binary string, ignoring whitespace.
-sub parse_hex {
-    my ($hex) = @_;
-    $hex =~ s/\s+//g;
-    return pack('H*', $hex);
-}
-
-## Open a TCP connection to the specified host and port.
-sub open_connection {
-    my ($host, $port) = @_;
-    my $socket = IO::Socket::INET->new(PeerAddr => $host,
-                                       PeerPort => $port,
-                                       Proto => 'tcp',
-                                       Timeout => 1);
-    die "Cannot connect to $host:$port: $!" unless $socket;
-    return $socket;
-}
-
-## Close the TCP connection.
-sub close_connection {
-    my ($connection) = @_;
-    $connection->shutdown(2);
-    # Ignore shutdown failures (at least for now)
-    return 1;
-}
-
-## Write the given data, expressed as hexadecimal
-sub write_data {
-    my ($connection, $hexdata) = @_;
-    my $data = parse_hex($hexdata);
-    my $total_sent = 0;
-    while ($total_sent < length($data)) {
-        my $sent = $connection->send($data, 0);
-        if (!defined $sent) {
-            die "Unable to send data: $!";
-        }
-        $total_sent += $sent;
-    }
-    return 1;
-}
-
-## Read a response and check it against an expected prefix
-sub read_response {
-    my ($connection, $expected_hex) = @_;
-    my $expected_data = parse_hex($expected_hex);
-    my $start_offset = 0;
-    while ($start_offset < length($expected_data)) {
-        my $actual_data;
-        my $ok = $connection->recv($actual_data, length($expected_data));
-        if (!defined $ok) {
-            die "Unable to receive data: $!";
-        }
-        if (($actual_data ^ substr($expected_data, $start_offset)) =~ /[^\000]/) {
-            printf STDERR ("Received \\x%02x instead of \\x%02x at offset %d\n",
-                           ord(substr($actual_data, $-[0], 1)),
-                           ord(substr($expected_data, $start_offset + $-[0], 1)),
-                           $start_offset + $-[0]);
-            return 0;
-        }
-        $start_offset += length($actual_data);
-    }
-    return 1;
-}
-
-if (@ARGV != 4) {
-    print STDERR "Usage: $0 HOSTNAME PORT DATA1 RESPONSE1\n";
-    exit(3);
-}
-my ($host, $port, $data1, $response1) = @ARGV;
-my $connection = open_connection($host, $port);
-write_data($connection, $data1);
-if (!read_response($connection, $response1)) {
-    exit(1);
-}
-close_connection($connection);
diff --git a/tests/ssl-opt.sh b/tests/ssl-opt.sh
index ef6c607341..74d0bbc6b1 100755
--- a/tests/ssl-opt.sh
+++ b/tests/ssl-opt.sh
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ O_SRV="$OPENSSL s_server -www -cert $DATA_FILES_PATH/server5.crt -key $DATA_FILE
 O_CLI="echo 'GET / HTTP/1.0' | $OPENSSL s_client"
 G_SRV="$GNUTLS_SERV --x509certfile $DATA_FILES_PATH/server5.crt --x509keyfile $DATA_FILES_PATH/server5.key"
 G_CLI="echo 'GET / HTTP/1.0' | $GNUTLS_CLI --x509cafile $DATA_FILES_PATH/test-ca_cat12.crt"
-TCP_CLIENT="$PERL scripts/tcp_client.pl"
 
 # alternative versions of OpenSSL and GnuTLS (no default path)