diff --git a/src/v/pandaproxy/schema_registry/json.cc b/src/v/pandaproxy/schema_registry/json.cc
index d2318ec3fa56d..264ddd9a25525 100644
--- a/src/v/pandaproxy/schema_registry/json.cc
+++ b/src/v/pandaproxy/schema_registry/json.cc
@@ -1399,9 +1399,6 @@ bool is_superset(
            "contentMediaType",
            "readOnly",
            "writeOnly",
-           "if",
-           "then",
-           "else",
            // draft 2019-09 unhandled keywords:
            "$anchor",
            "$recursiveRef",