diff --git a/src/wcstringutil.cpp b/src/wcstringutil.cpp
index 7e77740af..d83e3e6cd 100644
--- a/src/wcstringutil.cpp
+++ b/src/wcstringutil.cpp
@@ -202,25 +202,6 @@ string_fuzzy_match_t string_fuzzy_match_string(const wcstring &string,
     return result;
 }
 
-template <typename T>
-static inline int compare_ints(T a, T b) {
-    if (a < b) return -1;
-    if (a == b) return 0;
-    return 1;
-}
-
-/// Compare types; if the types match, compare distances.
-int string_fuzzy_match_t::compare(const string_fuzzy_match_t &rhs) const {
-    if (this->type != rhs.type) {
-        return compare_ints(this->type, rhs.type);
-    } else if (this->match_distance_first != rhs.match_distance_first) {
-        return compare_ints(this->match_distance_first, rhs.match_distance_first);
-    } else if (this->match_distance_second != rhs.match_distance_second) {
-        return compare_ints(this->match_distance_second, rhs.match_distance_second);
-    }
-    return 0;  // equal
-}
-
 template <bool Fuzzy, typename T>
 size_t ifind_impl(const T &haystack, const T &needle) {
     using char_t = typename T::value_type;
diff --git a/src/wcstringutil.h b/src/wcstringutil.h
index 2bc93b606..5e81071d4 100644
--- a/src/wcstringutil.h
+++ b/src/wcstringutil.h
@@ -111,9 +111,6 @@ struct string_fuzzy_match_t {
     // Constructor.
     explicit string_fuzzy_match_t(enum fuzzy_type_t t, size_t distance_first = 0,
                                   size_t distance_second = 0);
-
-    // Return -1, 0, 1 if this match is (respectively) better than, equal to, or worse than rhs.
-    int compare(const string_fuzzy_match_t &rhs) const;
 };
 
 /// Compute a fuzzy match for a string. If maximum_match is not fuzzy_match_t::none, limit the type
diff --git a/src/wildcard.cpp b/src/wildcard.cpp
index 91ce154c8..2943cd396 100644
--- a/src/wildcard.cpp
+++ b/src/wildcard.cpp
@@ -851,7 +851,8 @@ void wildcard_expander_t::expand_literal_intermediate_segment_with_fuzz(const wc
                 c->prepend_token_prefix(child_prefix);
             }
             // And every match must be made at least as fuzzy as ours.
-            if (match.compare(c->match) > 0) {
+            // TODO: justify this, tests do not exercise it yet.
+            if (match.type > c->match.type) {
                 // Our match is fuzzier.
                 c->match = match;
             }