diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/cx-api/lib/cloud-assembly.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-lib/cx-api/lib/cloud-assembly.ts
index df073a89365cb..91ba63df564bc 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/cx-api/lib/cloud-assembly.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-lib/cx-api/lib/cloud-assembly.ts
@@ -33,53 +33,6 @@ export class CloudAssembly implements ICloudAssembly {
     return x !== null && typeof(x) === 'object' && CLOUD_ASSEMBLY_SYMBOL in x;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Cleans up any temporary assembly directories that got created in this process
-   *
-   * If a Cloud Assembly is emitted to a temporary directory, its directory gets
-   * added to a list. This function iterates over that list and deletes each
-   * directory in it, to free up disk space.
-   *
-   * This function will normally be called automatically during Node process
-   * exit and so you don't need to call this. However, some test environments do
-   * not properly trigger Node's `exit` event. Notably: Jest does not trigger
-   * the `exit` event (<https://github.com/jestjs/jest/issues/10927>).
-   *
-   * ## Cleaning up temporary directories in jest
-   *
-   * For Jest, you have to make sure this function is called at the end of the
-   * test suite instead:
-   *
-   * ```js
-   * import { CloudAssembly } from 'aws-cdk-lib/cx-api';
-   *
-   * afterAll(CloudAssembly.cleanupTemporaryDirectories);
-   * ```
-   *
-   * Alternatively, you can use the `setupFilesAfterEnv` feature and use a
-   * provided helper script to automatically inject the above into every
-   * test file, so you don't have to do it by hand.
-   *
-   * ```
-   * $ npx jest --setupFilesAfterEnv aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean
-   * ```
-   *
-   * Or put the following into `jest.config.js`:
-   *
-   * ```js
-   * module.exports = {
-   *   // ...
-   *   setupFilesAfterEnv: ['aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-cleanup'],
-   * };
-   * ```
-   */
-  public static cleanupTemporaryDirectories() {
-    for (const dir of TEMPORARY_ASSEMBLY_DIRS) {
-      fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-    TEMPORARY_ASSEMBLY_DIRS.splice(0, TEMPORARY_ASSEMBLY_DIRS.length);
-  }
-
   /**
    * The root directory of the cloud assembly.
    */
@@ -545,4 +498,8 @@ function ensureDirSync(dir: string) {
 
 // On process exit, delete all temporary assembly directories
 const TEMPORARY_ASSEMBLY_DIRS: string[] = [];
-process.on('exit', () => CloudAssembly.cleanupTemporaryDirectories());
+process.on('exit', () => {
+  for (const dir of TEMPORARY_ASSEMBLY_DIRS) {
+    fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/package.json b/packages/aws-cdk-lib/package.json
index 6f50420c7a4e8..6daa92094076e 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/package.json
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk-lib/package.json
@@ -530,7 +530,6 @@
     "./pipelines/package.json": "./pipelines/package.json",
     "./recommended-feature-flags.json": "./recommended-feature-flags.json",
     "./region-info": "./region-info/index.js",
-    "./testhelpers/jest-autoclean": "./testhelpers/jest-autoclean.js",
     "./triggers": "./triggers/index.js"
   },
   "publishConfig": {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean.ts b/packages/aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7e3d71108eed6..0000000000000
--- a/packages/aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * A file designed to be used with Jest's `--setupFilesAfterEnv` flag, to automatically clean temporary directories.
- *
- * This is an effective alternative to adding an `afterAll()` to every individual test file.
- *
- * Can be used as follows:
- *
- * ```
- * $ jest --setupFilesAfterEnv aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean
- * ```
- */
-import { CloudAssembly } from '../cx-api';
-
-// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/unbound-method
-afterAll(CloudAssembly.cleanupTemporaryDirectories);
diff --git a/tools/@aws-cdk/cdk-build-tools/config/jest.config.js b/tools/@aws-cdk/cdk-build-tools/config/jest.config.js
index 0c47026702afe..030aa99371bad 100644
--- a/tools/@aws-cdk/cdk-build-tools/config/jest.config.js
+++ b/tools/@aws-cdk/cdk-build-tools/config/jest.config.js
@@ -1,13 +1,3 @@
-const thisPackagesPackageJson = require(`${process.cwd()}/package.json`);
-const setupFilesAfterEnv = [];
-if ('aws-cdk-lib' in thisPackagesPackageJson.devDependencies ?? {}) {
-  // If we depend on aws-cdk-lib, use the provided autoclean hook
-  setupFilesAfterEnv.push('aws-cdk-lib/testhelpers/jest-autoclean');
-} else if (thisPackagesPackageJson.name === 'aws-cdk-lib') {
-  // If we *ARE* aws-cdk-lib, use the hook in a slightly different way
-  setupFilesAfterEnv.push('./testhelpers/jest-autoclean.ts');
-}
-
 module.exports = {
   // The preset deals with preferring TS over JS
   moduleFileExtensions: [
@@ -41,6 +31,4 @@ module.exports = {
   ],
   coveragePathIgnorePatterns: ['\\.generated\\.[jt]s$', '<rootDir>/test/', '.warnings.jsii.js$', '/node_modules/'],
   reporters: ['default', ['jest-junit', { suiteName: 'jest tests', outputDirectory: 'coverage' }]],
-
-  setupFilesAfterEnv,
 };