diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/empathy/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/empathy/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index fbfee37cd13e..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/core/empathy/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,147 +0,0 @@
-{ lib, stdenv
-, intltool
-, fetchurl
-, webkitgtk
-, pkg-config
-, gtk3
-, glib
-, file
-, librsvg
-, gnome
-, gdk-pixbuf
-, python3
-, telepathy-glib
-, telepathy-farstream
-, clutter-gtk
-, clutter-gst
-, gst_all_1
-, cogl
-, gnome-online-accounts
-, gcr
-, libsecret
-, folks
-, libpulseaudio
-, telepathy-mission-control
-, telepathy-logger
-, libnotify
-, clutter
-, libsoup
-, gnutls
-, evolution-data-server
-, yelp-xsl
-, libcanberra-gtk3
-, p11-kit
-, farstream
-, libtool
-, shared-mime-info
-, wrapGAppsHook
-, itstool
-, libxml2
-, libxslt
-, icu
-, libgee
-, gsettings-desktop-schemas
-, isocodes
-, enchant
-, libchamplain
-, geoclue2
-, geocode-glib
-, cheese
-, libgudev
-}:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "empathy";
-  version = "3.25.90";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://gnome/sources/empathy/${lib.versions.majorMinor version}/${pname}-${version}.tar.xz";
-    sha256 = "0sn10fcymc6lyrabk7vx8lpvlaxxkqnmcwj9zdkfa8qf3388k4nc";
-  };
-
-  propagatedBuildInputs = [
-    (folks.override { telepathySupport = true; })
-    telepathy-logger
-    evolution-data-server
-    telepathy-mission-control
-  ];
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    pkg-config
-    libtool
-    intltool
-    itstool
-    file
-    wrapGAppsHook
-    libxml2
-    libxslt
-    yelp-xsl
-    python3
-  ];
-
-  buildInputs = [
-    gtk3
-    glib
-    webkitgtk
-    icu
-    gnome-online-accounts
-    telepathy-glib
-    clutter-gtk
-    clutter-gst
-    cogl
-    gst_all_1.gstreamer
-    gst_all_1.gst-plugins-base
-    gcr
-    libsecret
-    libpulseaudio
-    gdk-pixbuf
-    libnotify
-    clutter
-    libsoup
-    gnutls
-    libgee
-    p11-kit
-    libcanberra-gtk3
-    telepathy-farstream
-    farstream
-    gnome.adwaita-icon-theme
-    gsettings-desktop-schemas
-    librsvg
-
-    # Spell-checking
-    enchant
-    isocodes
-
-    # Display maps, location awareness, geocode support
-    libchamplain
-    geoclue2
-    geocode-glib
-
-    # Cheese webcam support, camera monitoring
-    cheese
-    libgudev
-  ];
-
-  enableParallelBuilding = true;
-
-  preFixup = ''
-    gappsWrapperArgs+=(
-      --prefix XDG_DATA_DIRS : "${shared-mime-info}/share"
-    )
-  '';
-
-  passthru = {
-    updateScript = gnome.updateScript {
-      packageName = "empathy";
-      versionPolicy = "none";
-    };
-  };
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    homepage = "https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Empathy";
-    description = "Messaging program which supports text, voice, video chat, and file transfers over many different protocols";
-    maintainers = teams.gnome.members;
-    license = [ licenses.gpl2 ];
-    platforms = platforms.linux;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/default.nix
index fa9b8eef0659..ae8bc2bc1302 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome/default.nix
@@ -23,8 +23,6 @@ lib.makeScope pkgs.newScope (self: with self; {
 
   dconf-editor = callPackage ./core/dconf-editor { };
 
-  empathy = callPackage ./core/empathy { };
-
   epiphany = callPackage ./core/epiphany { };
 
   evince = callPackage ./core/evince { }; # ToDo: dbus would prevent compilation, enable tests
@@ -264,6 +262,7 @@ lib.makeScope pkgs.newScope (self: with self; {
 }) // lib.optionalAttrs config.allowAliases {
 #### Legacy aliases. They need to be outside the scope or they will shadow the attributes from parent scope.
 
+  empathy = throw "The ‘gnome.empathy’ package was removed as it is unmaintained and no longer launches due to libsoup3 migration."; # added 2023-01-20
   gnome-desktop = throw "The ‘gnome.gnome-desktop’ alias was removed. Please use ‘pkgs.gnome-desktop’ directly."; # converted to throw on 2022-10-26
   gnome-todo = pkgs.endeavour; # added 2022-07-30
   libgnome-games-support = throw "The ‘gnome.libgnome-games-support’ alias was removed. Please use ‘pkgs.libgnome-games-support’ directly."; # converted to throw on 2022-10-26
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
index 5506b451ddb1..7642fb07f82f 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/aliases.nix
@@ -419,6 +419,7 @@ mapAliases ({
   emacsPackagesNgGen = throw "'emacsPackagesNgGen' has been renamed to/replaced by 'emacsPackagesFor'"; # Converted to throw 2022-02-22
   emacsWithPackages = emacs.pkgs.withPackages; # Added 2020-12-18
 
+  empathy = throw "empathy was removed as it is unmaintained and no longer launches due to libsoup3 migration"; # Added 2023-01-20
   enblendenfuse = throw "'enblendenfuse' has been renamed to/replaced by 'enblend-enfuse'"; # Converted to throw 2022-02-22
   encryptr = throw "encryptr was removed because it reached end of life"; # Added 2022-02-06
   envdir = throw "envdir has been dropped due to the lack of maintenance from upstream since 2018"; # Added 2022-06-03
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 5f2c773f6a4f..0a73b72c61b9 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -28731,8 +28731,6 @@ with pkgs;
   # If you turn this into "real" alias again, please add it to pkgs/top-level/packages-config.nix again too
   emacsPackages = emacs.pkgs;
 
-  inherit (gnome) empathy;
-
   emptty = callPackage ../applications/display-managers/emptty {};
 
   endeavour = callPackage ../applications/office/endeavour { };