diff --git a/exec.cpp b/exec.cpp
index 832c88847..c08933a10 100644
--- a/exec.cpp
+++ b/exec.cpp
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@ void exec_job(parser_t &parser, job_t *j)
                 if (p->next)
                 {
                     // Be careful to handle failure, e.g. too many open fds
-                    block_output_io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(false /* = not input */, STDOUT_FILENO));
+                    block_output_io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(STDOUT_FILENO));
                     if (block_output_io_buffer.get() == NULL)
                     {
                         exec_error = true;
@@ -958,7 +958,7 @@ void exec_job(parser_t &parser, job_t *j)
             {
                 if (p->next)
                 {
-                    block_output_io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(0));
+                    block_output_io_buffer.reset(io_buffer_t::create(STDOUT_FILENO));
                     if (block_output_io_buffer.get() == NULL)
                     {
                         /* We failed (e.g. no more fds could be created). */
@@ -1606,7 +1606,7 @@ static int exec_subshell_internal(const wcstring &cmd, wcstring_list_t *lst, boo
     int subcommand_status = -1; //assume the worst
 
     // IO buffer creation may fail (e.g. if we have too many open files to make a pipe), so this may be null
-    const shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> io_buffer(io_buffer_t::create(0));
+    const shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> io_buffer(io_buffer_t::create(STDOUT_FILENO));
     if (io_buffer.get() != NULL)
     {
         parser_t &parser = parser_t::principal_parser();
diff --git a/fish_tests.cpp b/fish_tests.cpp
index 7e82193cf..5b7bcea6d 100644
--- a/fish_tests.cpp
+++ b/fish_tests.cpp
@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ static int signal_main(test_cancellation_info_t *info)
 
 static void test_1_cancellation(const wchar_t *src)
 {
-    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> out_buff(io_buffer_t::create(false, STDOUT_FILENO));
+    shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> out_buff(io_buffer_t::create(STDOUT_FILENO));
     const io_chain_t io_chain(out_buff);
     test_cancellation_info_t ctx = {pthread_self(), 0.25 /* seconds */ };
     iothread_perform(signal_main, (void (*)(test_cancellation_info_t *, int))NULL, &ctx);
diff --git a/io.cpp b/io.cpp
index 3395942c2..61af4a9c0 100644
--- a/io.cpp
+++ b/io.cpp
@@ -123,14 +123,11 @@ void io_buffer_t::read()
 }
 
 
-io_buffer_t *io_buffer_t::create(bool is_input, int fd)
+io_buffer_t *io_buffer_t::create(int fd)
 {
     bool success = true;
-    if (fd == -1)
-    {
-        fd = is_input ? STDIN_FILENO : STDOUT_FILENO;
-    }
-    io_buffer_t *buffer_redirect = new io_buffer_t(fd, is_input);
+    assert(fd >= 0);
+    io_buffer_t *buffer_redirect = new io_buffer_t(fd);
 
     if (exec_pipe(buffer_redirect->pipe_fd) == -1)
     {
diff --git a/io.h b/io.h
index 17e2b3421..894e4c28c 100644
--- a/io.h
+++ b/io.h
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ class io_buffer_t : public io_pipe_t
     /** buffer to save output in */
     std::vector<char> out_buffer;
 
-    io_buffer_t(int f, bool i):
-        io_pipe_t(IO_BUFFER, f, i),
+    io_buffer_t(int f):
+        io_pipe_t(IO_BUFFER, f, false /* not input */),
         out_buffer()
     {
     }
@@ -172,16 +172,12 @@ class io_buffer_t : public io_pipe_t
 
     /**
        Create a IO_BUFFER type io redirection, complete with a pipe and a
-       vector<char> for output. The default file descriptor used is 1 for
-       output buffering and 0 for input buffering.
+       vector<char> for output. The default file descriptor used is STDOUT_FILENO
+       for buffering
 
-       \param is_input set this parameter to zero if the buffer should be
-       used to buffer the output of a command, or non-zero to buffer the
-       input to a command.
-
-       \param fd when -1, determined from is_input.
+       \param fd the fd that will be mapped in the child process, typically STDOUT_FILENO
     */
-    static io_buffer_t *create(bool is_input, int fd = -1);
+    static io_buffer_t *create(int fd);
 };
 
 class io_chain_t : public std::vector<shared_ptr<io_data_t> >
diff --git a/reader.cpp b/reader.cpp
index 6a81f3805..069771c17 100644
--- a/reader.cpp
+++ b/reader.cpp
@@ -586,15 +586,6 @@ static void reader_repaint()
     data->repaint_needed = false;
 }
 
-static void reader_repaint_without_autosuggestion()
-{
-    // Swap in an empty autosuggestion, repaint, then swap it out
-    wcstring saved_autosuggestion;
-    data->autosuggestion.swap(saved_autosuggestion);
-    reader_repaint();
-    data->autosuggestion.swap(saved_autosuggestion);
-}
-
 /** Internal helper function for handling killing parts of text. */
 static void reader_kill(editable_line_t *el, size_t begin_idx, size_t length, int mode, int newv)
 {