diff --git a/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 21df241f7db8..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-{
-  lib,
-  stdenv,
-  fetchFromGitHub,
-  cmake,
-  protobufc,
-  libunwind,
-  lzo,
-  openssl,
-  protobuf,
-  zlib,
-}:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "zbackup";
-  version = "1.4.4";
-
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner = "zbackup";
-    repo = "zbackup";
-    rev = version;
-    hash = "sha256-9Fk4EhEeQ2J4Kirc7oad4CzmW70Mmza6uozd87qfgZI=";
-  };
-
-  patches = [
-    # compare with https://github.com/zbackup/zbackup/pull/158;
-    # but that doesn't apply cleanly to this version
-    ./protobuf-api-change.patch
-  ];
-
-  # zbackup uses dynamic exception specifications which are not
-  # allowed in C++17
-  env.NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = toString [ "--std=c++14" ];
-
-  buildInputs = [
-    zlib
-    openssl
-    protobuf
-    lzo
-    libunwind
-  ];
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    cmake
-    protobufc
-  ];
-
-  meta = {
-    description = "Versatile deduplicating backup tool";
-    mainProgram = "zbackup";
-    homepage = "http://zbackup.org/";
-    platforms = lib.platforms.linux;
-    license = lib.licenses.gpl2Plus;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/protobuf-api-change.patch b/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/protobuf-api-change.patch
deleted file mode 100644
index d071709878be..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/tools/backup/zbackup/protobuf-api-change.patch
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
---- a/backup_restorer.cc
-+++ b/backup_restorer.cc
-@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
-   // TODO: this disables size checks for each separate message. Figure a better
-   // way to do this while keeping them enabled. It seems we need to create an
-   // instance of CodedInputStream for each message, but it might be expensive
--  cis.SetTotalBytesLimit( backupData.size(), -1 );
-+  cis.SetTotalBytesLimit( backupData.size() );
- 
-   // Used when emitting chunks
-   string chunk;
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
index f6e513227aed..3704fa0ba910 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
@@ -2445,6 +2445,7 @@ mapAliases {
   z3_4_8 = throw "'z3_4_8' has been removed in favour of the latest version. Use 'z3'."; # Added 2025-05-18
   zabbix50 = throw "'zabbix50' has been removed, it would have reached its End of Life a few days after the release of NixOS 25.05. Consider upgrading to 'zabbix60' or 'zabbix70'.";
   zabbix64 = throw "'zabbix64' has been removed because it reached its End of Life. Consider upgrading to 'zabbix70'.";
+  zbackup = throw "'zbackup' has been removed due to being unmaintained upstream"; # Added 2025-08-22
   zeroadPackages = recurseIntoAttrs {
     zeroad = lib.warnOnInstantiate "'zeroadPackages.zeroad' has been renamed to 'zeroad'" zeroad; # Added 2025-03-22
     zeroad-data = lib.warnOnInstantiate "'zeroadPackages.zeroad-data' has been renamed to 'zeroad-data'" zeroad-data; # Added 2025-03-22
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 0db3e80bf887..55b7d01de5f6 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -4579,10 +4579,6 @@ with pkgs;
   # To expose more packages for Yi, override the extraPackages arg.
   yi = callPackage ../applications/editors/yi/wrapper.nix { };
 
-  zbackup = callPackage ../tools/backup/zbackup {
-    protobuf = protobuf_21;
-  };
-
   zbar = libsForQt5.callPackage ../tools/graphics/zbar { };
 
   # Nvidia support does not require any proprietary libraries, so CI can build it.