diff --git a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/lib.rs b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/lib.rs
index 8787efb94d..a21c73154a 100644
--- a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/lib.rs
+++ b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/lib.rs
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ impl ProtoArrayForkChoice {
     ) -> Result<Self, String> {
         let mut proto_array = ProtoArray {
             prune_threshold: DEFAULT_PRUNE_THRESHOLD,
-            ffg_update_required: false,
             justified_epoch,
             finalized_epoch,
             nodes: Vec::with_capacity(1),
diff --git a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/proto_array.rs b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/proto_array.rs
index ead4a8f649..8659a790f1 100644
--- a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/proto_array.rs
+++ b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/proto_array.rs
@@ -22,9 +22,6 @@ pub struct ProtoArray {
     /// Do not attempt to prune the tree unless it has at least this many nodes. Small prunes
     /// simply waste time.
     pub prune_threshold: usize,
-    /// Set to true when the Casper FFG justified/finalized epochs should be checked to ensure the
-    /// tree is filtered as per eth2 specs.
-    pub ffg_update_required: bool,
     pub justified_epoch: Epoch,
     pub finalized_epoch: Epoch,
     pub nodes: Vec<ProtoNode>,
@@ -59,13 +56,7 @@ impl ProtoArray {
             });
         }
 
-        // The `self.ffg_update_required` flag indicates if it is necessary to check the
-        // finalized/justified epoch of all nodes against the epochs in `self`.
-        //
-        // This behaviour is equivalent to the `filter_block_tree` function in the spec.
-        self.ffg_update_required =
-            justified_epoch != self.justified_epoch || finalized_epoch != self.finalized_epoch;
-        if self.ffg_update_required {
+        if justified_epoch != self.justified_epoch || finalized_epoch != self.finalized_epoch {
             self.justified_epoch = justified_epoch;
             self.finalized_epoch = finalized_epoch;
         }
@@ -124,8 +115,6 @@ impl ProtoArray {
             }
         }
 
-        self.ffg_update_required = false;
-
         Ok(())
     }
 
@@ -235,7 +224,6 @@ impl ProtoArray {
             });
         } else if finalized_epoch != self.finalized_epoch {
             self.finalized_epoch = finalized_epoch;
-            self.ffg_update_required = true;
         }
 
         let finalized_index = *self
diff --git a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/ssz_container.rs b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/ssz_container.rs
index 1e2fcb92d7..802b9285f5 100644
--- a/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/ssz_container.rs
+++ b/eth2/proto_array_fork_choice/src/ssz_container.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ pub struct SszContainer {
     votes: Vec<VoteTracker>,
     balances: Vec<u64>,
     prune_threshold: usize,
+    // TODO: this field is no longer required, I'm just leaving it here for the time being so we
+    // don't need to resync nodes.
     ffg_update_required: bool,
     justified_epoch: Epoch,
     finalized_epoch: Epoch,
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ impl From<&ProtoArrayForkChoice> for SszContainer {
             votes: from.votes.read().0.clone(),
             balances: from.balances.read().clone(),
             prune_threshold: proto_array.prune_threshold,
-            ffg_update_required: proto_array.ffg_update_required,
+            ffg_update_required: false,
             justified_epoch: proto_array.justified_epoch,
             finalized_epoch: proto_array.finalized_epoch,
             nodes: proto_array.nodes.clone(),
@@ -41,7 +43,6 @@ impl From<SszContainer> for ProtoArrayForkChoice {
     fn from(from: SszContainer) -> Self {
         let proto_array = ProtoArray {
             prune_threshold: from.prune_threshold,
-            ffg_update_required: from.ffg_update_required,
             justified_epoch: from.justified_epoch,
             finalized_epoch: from.finalized_epoch,
             nodes: from.nodes,