The once accepted idea that LEF‐1 transports β‐catenin into nuclei has recently been challenged by experiments using exogenous β‐catenin. Here, we investigated the effects of β‐catenin and LEF‐1 on nuclear import of β‐catenin using different combinations of exogenous and endogenous molecules over longer lengths of time than previously studied. Nuclear β‐catenin is not detectable in corneal fibroblasts and epithelia or NIH 3T3 and MDCK cells. In LEF‐1 transfections, we show that the B‐box of LEF‐1 is required to move cytoplasmic endogenous β‐catenin into the nuclei of such cells, proving that LEF‐1 does transport endogenous β‐catenin into nuclei. Moreover, transfection of uveal melanoma cells with B‐box deficient LEF‐1 inhibits nuclear import of β‐catenin by endogenous LEF‐1. However, the movement of overexpressed exogenous β‐catenin into nuclei is unaffected by the presence or absence of LEF‐1 and forms abnormal nuclear aggregates that are a prelude to subsequent apoptosis. We conclude that nuclear transport of exogenous β‐catenin independently of LEF‐1 has questionable physiological significance.