diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/ansible-executor-remove-return-vars.yml b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-executor-remove-return-vars.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..967ce5b030e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/ansible-executor-remove-return-vars.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+  - executor - remove unused RETURN_VARS
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
index 681f8e382e9..0c546322ab9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ if t.TYPE_CHECKING:
 display = Display()
 
 
-RETURN_VARS = [x for x in C.MAGIC_VARIABLE_MAPPING.items() if 'become' not in x and '_pass' not in x]
 _INJECT_FACTS, _INJECT_FACTS_ORIGIN = C.config.get_config_value_and_origin('INJECT_FACTS_AS_VARS')
 
 __all__ = ['TaskExecutor']