diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
index 7ebd867d2d0..a51f05c7528 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir.h
@@ -6762,6 +6762,7 @@ void nir_loop_analyze_impl(nir_function_impl *impl,
                            nir_variable_mode indirect_mask,
                            bool force_unroll_sampler_indirect);
 
+/* This requires both nir_metadata_live_defs and nir_metadata_instr_index. */
 bool nir_defs_interfere(nir_def *a, nir_def *b);
 
 bool nir_repair_ssa_impl(nir_function_impl *impl);
diff --git a/src/compiler/nir/nir_liveness.c b/src/compiler/nir/nir_liveness.c
index 2202553dabc..70f885af1cb 100644
--- a/src/compiler/nir/nir_liveness.c
+++ b/src/compiler/nir/nir_liveness.c
@@ -134,11 +134,6 @@ nir_live_defs_impl(nir_function_impl *impl)
    };
    state.tmp_live = rzalloc_array(impl, BITSET_WORD, state.bitset_words),
 
-   /* Number the instructions so we can do cheap interference tests using the
-    * instruction index.
-    */
-      nir_metadata_require(impl, nir_metadata_instr_index);
-
    nir_block_worklist_init(&state.worklist, impl->num_blocks, NULL);
 
    /* Allocate live_in and live_out sets and add all of the blocks to the