diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/utils/outdated.py b/src/pip/_internal/utils/outdated.py
index f8f64669d..b6d191b37 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/utils/outdated.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/utils/outdated.py
@@ -21,31 +21,6 @@ SELFCHECK_DATE_FMT = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-class VirtualenvSelfCheckState(object):
-    def __init__(self):
-        self.statefile_path = os.path.join(sys.prefix, "pip-selfcheck.json")
-
-        # Load the existing state
-        try:
-            with open(self.statefile_path) as statefile:
-                self.state = json.load(statefile)
-        except (IOError, ValueError):
-            self.state = {}
-
-    def save(self, pypi_version, current_time):
-        # Attempt to write out our version check file
-        with open(self.statefile_path, "w") as statefile:
-            json.dump(
-                {
-                    "last_check": current_time.strftime(SELFCHECK_DATE_FMT),
-                    "pypi_version": pypi_version,
-                },
-                statefile,
-                sort_keys=True,
-                separators=(",", ":")
-            )
-
-
 class GlobalSelfCheckState(object):
     def __init__(self):
         self.statefile_path = os.path.join(USER_CACHE_DIR, "selfcheck.json")
@@ -84,13 +59,6 @@ class GlobalSelfCheckState(object):
                           separators=(",", ":"))
 
 
-def load_selfcheck_statefile():
-    if running_under_virtualenv():
-        return VirtualenvSelfCheckState()
-    else:
-        return GlobalSelfCheckState()
-
-
 def pip_version_check(session, options):
     """Check for an update for pip.
 
@@ -106,7 +74,7 @@ def pip_version_check(session, options):
     pypi_version = None
 
     try:
-        state = load_selfcheck_statefile()
+        state = GlobalSelfCheckState()
 
         current_time = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
         # Determine if we need to refresh the state
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_unit_outdated.py b/tests/unit/test_unit_outdated.py
index 531ff02d2..f76ecbf96 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_unit_outdated.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_unit_outdated.py
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ def test_pip_version_check(monkeypatch, stored_time, installed_ver, new_ver,
         save=pretend.call_recorder(lambda v, t: None),
     )
     monkeypatch.setattr(
-        outdated, 'load_selfcheck_statefile', lambda: fake_state
+        outdated, 'GlobalSelfCheckState', lambda: fake_state
     )
 
     with freezegun.freeze_time(
@@ -105,40 +105,6 @@ def test_pip_version_check(monkeypatch, stored_time, installed_ver, new_ver,
         assert len(outdated.logger.warning.calls) == 0
 
 
-def test_virtualenv_state(monkeypatch):
-    CONTENT = '{"last_check": "1970-01-02T11:00:00Z", "pypi_version": "1.0"}'
-    fake_file = pretend.stub(
-        read=pretend.call_recorder(lambda: CONTENT),
-        write=pretend.call_recorder(lambda s: None),
-    )
-
-    @pretend.call_recorder
-    @contextmanager
-    def fake_open(filename, mode='r'):
-        yield fake_file
-
-    monkeypatch.setattr(outdated, 'open', fake_open, raising=False)
-
-    monkeypatch.setattr(outdated, 'running_under_virtualenv',
-                        pretend.call_recorder(lambda: True))
-
-    monkeypatch.setattr(sys, 'prefix', 'virtually_env')
-
-    state = outdated.load_selfcheck_statefile()
-    state.save('2.0', datetime.datetime.utcnow())
-
-    assert len(outdated.running_under_virtualenv.calls) == 1
-
-    expected_path = os.path.join('virtually_env', 'pip-selfcheck.json')
-    assert fake_open.calls == [
-        pretend.call(expected_path),
-        pretend.call(expected_path, 'w'),
-    ]
-
-    # json.dumps will call this a number of times
-    assert len(fake_file.write.calls)
-
-
 def test_global_state(monkeypatch, tmpdir):
     CONTENT = '''{"pip_prefix": {"last_check": "1970-01-02T11:00:00Z",
         "pypi_version": "1.0"}}'''
@@ -164,18 +130,14 @@ def test_global_state(monkeypatch, tmpdir):
     monkeypatch.setattr(lockfile, 'LockFile', fake_lock)
     monkeypatch.setattr(os.path, "exists", lambda p: True)
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(outdated, 'running_under_virtualenv',
-                        pretend.call_recorder(lambda: False))
 
     cache_dir = tmpdir / 'cache_dir'
     monkeypatch.setattr(outdated, 'USER_CACHE_DIR', cache_dir)
     monkeypatch.setattr(sys, 'prefix', tmpdir / 'pip_prefix')
 
-    state = outdated.load_selfcheck_statefile()
+    state = outdated.GlobalSelfCheckState()
     state.save('2.0', datetime.datetime.utcnow())
 
-    assert len(outdated.running_under_virtualenv.calls) == 1
-
     expected_path = cache_dir / 'selfcheck.json'
     assert fake_lock.calls == [pretend.call(expected_path)]