diff --git a/src/env_universal_common.cpp b/src/env_universal_common.cpp
index 751136159..900a2d75a 100644
--- a/src/env_universal_common.cpp
+++ b/src/env_universal_common.cpp
@@ -1737,9 +1737,3 @@ bool universal_notifier_t::notification_fd_became_readable(int fd)
 {
     return false;
 }
-
-static bool bool_from_env_var(const char *name, bool default_value)
-{
-    const char *var = getenv(name);
-    return var ? from_string<bool>(var) : default_value;
-}