diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh b/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
index 99cff230..49de6efd 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ pihole-FTL() {
     local ftl_port LINE
     # shellcheck disable=SC1091
     . /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    ftl_port=$(getFTLAPIPort)
+    ftl_port=$(getFTLConfigValue dns.port)
     if [[ -n "$ftl_port" ]]; then
         # Open connection to FTL
         exec 3<>"/dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/$ftl_port"
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
index c6cac9c4..9248a672 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
@@ -77,29 +77,6 @@ removeKey() {
   sed -i "/^${key}/d" "${file}"
 }
 
-
-#######################
-# returns FTL's current telnet API port based on the setting in /etc/pihole-FTL.conf
-########################
-getFTLAPIPort(){
-    local FTLCONFFILE="/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf"
-    local DEFAULT_FTL_PORT=4711
-    local ftl_api_port
-
-    if [ -s "$FTLCONFFILE" ]; then
-        # if FTLPORT is not set in pihole-FTL.conf, use the default port
-        ftl_api_port="$({ grep '^FTLPORT=' "${FTLCONFFILE}" || echo "${DEFAULT_FTL_PORT}"; } | cut -d'=' -f2-)"
-        # Exploit prevention: set the port to the default port if there is malicious (non-numeric)
-        # content set in pihole-FTL.conf
-        expr "${ftl_api_port}" : "[^[:digit:]]" > /dev/null && ftl_api_port="${DEFAULT_FTL_PORT}"
-    else
-        # if there is no pihole-FTL.conf, use the default port
-        ftl_api_port="${DEFAULT_FTL_PORT}"
-    fi
-
-    echo "${ftl_api_port}"
-}
-
 #######################
 # returns path of FTL's PID  file
 #######################
diff --git a/pihole b/pihole
index 0c91df35..0be995e4 100755
--- a/pihole
+++ b/pihole
@@ -320,13 +320,12 @@ analyze_ports() {
 
 statusFunc() {
     # Determine if there is pihole-FTL service is listening
-    local pid port ftl_api_port ftl_pid_file
+    local pid port ftl_pid_file
 
     ftl_pid_file="$(getFTLPIDFile)"
 
     pid="$(getFTLPID ${ftl_pid_file})"
 
-    ftl_api_port="$(getFTLAPIPort)"
     if [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]]; then
         case "${1}" in
             "web") echo "-1";;
@@ -334,8 +333,8 @@ statusFunc() {
         esac
         return 0
     else
-        #get the DNS port pihole-FTL is listening on by using FTL's telnet API
-        port="$(echo ">dns-port >quit" | nc 127.0.0.1 "$ftl_api_port")"
+        # get the DNS port pihole-FTL is listening on
+        port="$(getFTLConfigValue dns.port)"
         if [[ "${port}" == "0" ]]; then
             case "${1}" in
                 "web") echo "-1";;
diff --git a/test/test_any_utils.py b/test/test_any_utils.py
index 8dcd67eb..fcadc06e 100644
--- a/test/test_any_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_any_utils.py
@@ -62,52 +62,6 @@ def test_key_removal_works(host):
     assert expected_stdout == output.stdout
 
 
-def test_getFTLAPIPort_default(host):
-    """Confirms getFTLAPIPort returns the default API port"""
-    output = host.run(
-        """
-    source /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    getFTLAPIPort
-    """
-    )
-    expected_stdout = "4711\n"
-    assert expected_stdout == output.stdout
-
-
-def test_getFTLAPIPort_custom(host):
-    """Confirms getFTLAPIPort returns a custom API port"""
-    host.run(
-        """
-    echo "FTLPORT=1234" > /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf
-    """
-    )
-    output = host.run(
-        """
-    source /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    getFTLAPIPort
-    """
-    )
-    expected_stdout = "1234\n"
-    assert expected_stdout == output.stdout
-
-
-def test_getFTLAPIPort_malicious(host):
-    """Confirms getFTLAPIPort returns 4711 if the setting in pihole-FTL.conf contains non-digits"""
-    host.run(
-        """
-    echo "FTLPORT=*$ssdfsd" > /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf
-    """
-    )
-    output = host.run(
-        """
-    source /opt/pihole/utils.sh
-    getFTLAPIPort
-    """
-    )
-    expected_stdout = "4711\n"
-    assert expected_stdout == output.stdout
-
-
 def test_getFTLPIDFile_default(host):
     """Confirms getFTLPIDFile returns the default PID file path"""
     output = host.run(