diff --git a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/_base.py b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/_base.py
index 0e78a76794..1c3587d1ab 100644
--- a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/_base.py
+++ b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/_base.py
@@ -405,24 +405,6 @@ def _fetch_by_key(self, collection_ids: Iterable[K] | None) -> list[CollectionRe
         """
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
-    def getParentChains(self, key: K) -> Iterator[ChainedCollectionRecord[K]]:
-        # Docstring inherited from CollectionManager.
-        table = self._tables.collection_chain
-        sql = (
-            sqlalchemy.sql.select(table.columns["parent"])
-            .select_from(table)
-            .where(table.columns["child"] == key)
-        )
-        with self._db.query(sql) as sql_result:
-            parent_keys = sql_result.scalars().all()
-        # TODO: It would be more efficient to write a single query that both
-        # finds parents and all their children, but for now we do not care
-        # much about efficiency. Also the only client of this method does not
-        # need full records, only parent collection names, maybe we should
-        # change this method to return names instead.
-        for record in self._fetch_by_key(parent_keys):
-            yield cast(ChainedCollectionRecord[K], record)
-
     def update_chain(
         self, chain: ChainedCollectionRecord[K], children: Iterable[str], flatten: bool = False
     ) -> ChainedCollectionRecord[K]:
diff --git a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/nameKey.py b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/nameKey.py
index 7336558cc9..d8c50cce2f 100644
--- a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/nameKey.py
+++ b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/nameKey.py
@@ -153,6 +153,18 @@ def addRunForeignKey(
             )
         return copy
 
+    def getParentChains(self, key: str) -> set[str]:
+        # Docstring inherited from CollectionManager.
+        table = self._tables.collection_chain
+        sql = (
+            sqlalchemy.sql.select(table.columns["parent"])
+            .select_from(table)
+            .where(table.columns["child"] == key)
+        )
+        with self._db.query(sql) as sql_result:
+            parent_names = set(sql_result.scalars().all())
+        return parent_names
+
     def _get_cached_name(self, name: str) -> CollectionRecord[str] | None:
         # Docstring inherited from base class.
         return self._records.get(name)
diff --git a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/synthIntKey.py b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/synthIntKey.py
index 2e1bf5f758..d2edcaae88 100644
--- a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/synthIntKey.py
+++ b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/collections/synthIntKey.py
@@ -185,6 +185,20 @@ def addRunForeignKey(
             )
         return copy
 
+    def getParentChains(self, key: int) -> set[str]:
+        # Docstring inherited from CollectionManager.
+        chain = self._tables.collection_chain
+        collection = self._tables.collection
+        sql = (
+            sqlalchemy.sql.select(collection.columns["name"])
+            .select_from(collection)
+            .join(chain, onclause=collection.columns[self._collectionIdName] == chain.columns["parent"])
+            .where(chain.columns["child"] == key)
+        )
+        with self._db.query(sql) as sql_result:
+            parent_names = set(sql_result.scalars().all())
+        return parent_names
+
     def _setRecordCache(self, records: Iterable[CollectionRecord[int]]) -> None:
         """Set internal record cache to contain given records,
         old cached records will be removed.
diff --git a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/interfaces/_collections.py b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/interfaces/_collections.py
index 3cce276b6b..c07b894adc 100644
--- a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/interfaces/_collections.py
+++ b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/interfaces/_collections.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 ]
 
 from abc import abstractmethod
-from collections.abc import Iterable, Iterator, Set
+from collections.abc import Iterable, Set
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Generic, TypeVar
 
 from ..._timespan import Timespan
@@ -563,14 +563,19 @@ def setDocumentation(self, key: _Key, doc: str | None) -> None:
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
     @abstractmethod
-    def getParentChains(self, key: _Key) -> Iterator[ChainedCollectionRecord[_Key]]:
-        """Find all CHAINED collections that directly contain the given
+    def getParentChains(self, key: _Key) -> set[str]:
+        """Find all CHAINED collection names that directly contain the given
         collection.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
         key
             Internal primary key value for the collection.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        names : `set` [`str`]
+            Parent collection names.
         """
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
diff --git a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/sql_registry.py b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/sql_registry.py
index 538ffbc265..5e03938b78 100644
--- a/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/sql_registry.py
+++ b/python/lsst/daf/butler/registry/sql_registry.py
@@ -618,12 +618,7 @@ def getCollectionParentChains(self, collection: str) -> set[str]:
         chains : `set` of `str`
             Set of `~CollectionType.CHAINED` collection names.
         """
-        return {
-            record.name
-            for record in self._managers.collections.getParentChains(
-                self._managers.collections.find(collection).key
-            )
-        }
+        return self._managers.collections.getParentChains(self._managers.collections.find(collection).key)
 
     def getCollectionDocumentation(self, collection: str) -> str | None:
         """Retrieve the documentation string for a collection.