diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index 18cecdab0..5b72d0f21 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 use std::env;
 use std::error::Error;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
-use std::process::Stdio;
 
 fn main() {
     for key in ["DOCDIR", "DATADIR", "SYSCONFDIR", "BINDIR", "LOCALEDIR"] {
@@ -112,17 +111,6 @@ fn detect_cfgs(target: Target) {
     }
 }
 
-fn compiles(file: &str) -> bool {
-    let mut command = cc::Build::new()
-        .flag("-fsyntax-only")
-        .get_compiler()
-        .to_command();
-    command.arg(file);
-    command.stdout(Stdio::null());
-    command.stderr(Stdio::null());
-    command.status().unwrap().success()
-}
-
 /// Detect if we're being compiled for a BSD-derived OS, allowing targeting code conditionally with
 /// `#[cfg(feature = "bsd")]`.
 ///