diff --git a/rust-peer/Cargo.lock b/rust-peer/Cargo.lock
index e2af46ee..399c8db5 100644
--- a/rust-peer/Cargo.lock
+++ b/rust-peer/Cargo.lock
@@ -1596,7 +1596,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "libp2p-kad",
  "libp2p-mdns",
  "libp2p-metrics",
- "libp2p-ping",
  "libp2p-quic",
  "libp2p-relay",
  "libp2p-request-response",
@@ -1808,7 +1807,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "libp2p-identify",
  "libp2p-identity",
  "libp2p-kad",
- "libp2p-ping",
  "libp2p-relay",
  "libp2p-swarm",
  "once_cell",
@@ -1840,24 +1838,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "libp2p-ping"
-version = "0.43.1"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "e702d75cd0827dfa15f8fd92d15b9932abe38d10d21f47c50438c71dd1b5dae3"
-dependencies = [
- "either",
- "futures",
- "futures-timer",
- "instant",
- "libp2p-core",
- "libp2p-identity",
- "libp2p-swarm",
- "log",
- "rand",
- "void",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "libp2p-quic"
 version = "0.9.2"
diff --git a/rust-peer/Cargo.toml b/rust-peer/Cargo.toml
index aef963e5..fbe8522d 100644
--- a/rust-peer/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust-peer/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ clap = { version = "4.1.11", features = ["derive"] }
 env_logger = "0.10.0"
 futures = "0.3.27"
 futures-timer = "3.0.2"
-libp2p = { version = "0.52.3", features = ["identify", "ping", "tokio", "gossipsub", "macros", "relay", "kad", "rsa", "ed25519", "quic", "request-response", "dns"] }
+libp2p = { version = "0.52.3", features = ["identify", "tokio", "gossipsub", "macros", "relay", "kad", "rsa", "ed25519", "quic", "request-response", "dns"] }
 libp2p-webrtc = { version = "0.6.0-alpha", features = ["tokio", "pem"] }
 log = "0.4.17"
 rand = "0.8.5"
diff --git a/rust-peer/src/main.rs b/rust-peer/src/main.rs
index 35a78896..6ff7aec2 100644
--- a/rust-peer/src/main.rs
+++ b/rust-peer/src/main.rs
@@ -158,54 +158,36 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
                 )) => {
                     debug!("{peer_id} subscribed to {topic}");
                 }
-                SwarmEvent::Behaviour(BehaviourEvent::Identify(e)) => {
-                    info!("BehaviourEvent::Identify {:?}", e);
-
-                    if let identify::Event::Error { peer_id, error } = e {
-                        match error {
-                            libp2p::swarm::StreamUpgradeError::Timeout => {
-                                // When a browser tab closes, we don't get a swarm event
-                                // maybe there's a way to get this with TransportEvent
-                                // but for now remove the peer from routing table if there's an Identify timeout
-                                swarm.behaviour_mut().kademlia.remove_peer(&peer_id);
-                                info!("Removed {peer_id} from the routing table (if it was in there).");
-                            }
-                            _ => {
-                                debug!("{error}");
-                            }
-                        }
-                    } else if let identify::Event::Received {
-                        peer_id,
-                        info:
-                            identify::Info {
-                                listen_addrs,
-                                protocols,
-                                observed_addr,
-                                ..
-                            },
-                    } = e
-                    {
-                        debug!("identify::Event::Received observed_addr: {}", observed_addr);
-
-                        swarm.add_external_address(observed_addr);
-
-                        // TODO: The following should no longer be necessary after https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p/pull/4371.
-                        if protocols.iter().any(|p| p == &KADEMLIA_PROTOCOL_NAME) {
-                            for addr in listen_addrs {
-                                debug!("identify::Event::Received listen addr: {}", addr);
-                                // TODO (fixme): the below doesn't work because the address is still missing /webrtc/p2p even after https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p-webrtc/pull/121
-                                // swarm.behaviour_mut().kademlia.add_address(&peer_id, addr);
-
-                                let webrtc_address = addr
-                                    .with(Protocol::WebRTCDirect)
-                                    .with(Protocol::P2p(peer_id));
-
-                                swarm
-                                    .behaviour_mut()
-                                    .kademlia
-                                    .add_address(&peer_id, webrtc_address.clone());
-                                info!("Added {webrtc_address} to the routing table.");
-                            }
+                SwarmEvent::Behaviour(BehaviourEvent::Identify(identify::Event::Received {
+                    peer_id,
+                    info:
+                        identify::Info {
+                            listen_addrs,
+                            protocols,
+                            observed_addr,
+                            ..
+                        },
+                })) => {
+                    debug!("identify::Event::Received observed_addr: {}", observed_addr);
+
+                    swarm.add_external_address(observed_addr);
+
+                    // TODO: The following should no longer be necessary after https://github.com/libp2p/rust-libp2p/pull/4371.
+                    if protocols.iter().any(|p| p == &KADEMLIA_PROTOCOL_NAME) {
+                        for addr in listen_addrs {
+                            debug!("identify::Event::Received listen addr: {}", addr);
+                            // TODO (fixme): the below doesn't work because the address is still missing /webrtc/p2p even after https://github.com/libp2p/js-libp2p-webrtc/pull/121
+                            // swarm.behaviour_mut().kademlia.add_address(&peer_id, addr);
+
+                            let webrtc_address = addr
+                                .with(Protocol::WebRTCDirect)
+                                .with(Protocol::P2p(peer_id));
+
+                            swarm
+                                .behaviour_mut()
+                                .kademlia
+                                .add_address(&peer_id, webrtc_address.clone());
+                            info!("Added {webrtc_address} to the routing table.");
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -328,10 +310,10 @@ fn create_swarm(
         dns::TokioDnsConfig::system(mapped)?.boxed()
     };
 
-    let identify_config = identify::Behaviour::new(
-        identify::Config::new("/ipfs/0.1.0".into(), local_key.public())
-            .with_interval(Duration::from_secs(60)), // do this so we can get timeouts for dropped WebRTC connections
-    );
+    let identify_config = identify::Behaviour::new(identify::Config::new(
+        "/ipfs/0.1.0".into(),
+        local_key.public(),
+    ));
 
     // Create a Kademlia behaviour.
     let mut cfg = KademliaConfig::default();