diff --git a/lib/scaffold/remove.js b/lib/scaffold/remove.js
index 6d866d6f..0471255c 100644
--- a/lib/scaffold/remove.js
+++ b/lib/scaffold/remove.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 var async = require('async');
 var fs = require('fs');
-var npm = require('npm');
 var path = require('path');
 var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 var bitcore = require('bitcore-lib');
@@ -79,24 +78,7 @@ function uninstallService(configDir, service, done) {
 function removeService(configDir, service, done) {
   $.checkArgument(utils.isAbsolutePath(configDir), 'An absolute path is expected');
   $.checkArgument(_.isString(service), 'A string is expected for the service argument');
-
-  // check if the service is installed
-  npm.load(function(err) {
-    if (err) {
-      return done(err);
-    }
-    npm.commands.ls([service], true /*silent*/, function(err, data, lite) {
-      if (err) {
-        return done(err);
-      }
-      if (lite.dependencies) {
-        uninstallService(configDir, service, done);
-      } else {
-        done();
-      }
-    });
-  });
-
+  uninstallService(configDir, service, done);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3ca74ae6..4261c455 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@
     "liftoff": "^2.2.0",
     "lru-cache": "^4.0.1",
     "mkdirp": "0.5.0",
-    "npm": "^2.14.1",
     "path-is-absolute": "^1.0.0",
     "semver": "^5.0.1",
     "socket.io": "^1.4.5",