diff --git a/include/mruby/internal.h b/include/mruby/internal.h
index 5d21d1942..3da4daca4 100644
--- a/include/mruby/internal.h
+++ b/include/mruby/internal.h
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ void mrb_gc_free_hash(mrb_state*, struct RHash*);
 struct mrb_insn_data mrb_decode_insn(const mrb_code *pc);
 #ifdef MRUBY_IREP_H
 void mrb_irep_free(mrb_state*, struct mrb_irep*);
-void mrb_irep_remove_lv(mrb_state *mrb, mrb_irep *irep);
 
 static inline const struct mrb_irep_catch_handler *
 mrb_irep_catch_handler_table(const struct mrb_irep *irep)
diff --git a/mrbgems/mruby-compiler/core/codegen.c b/mrbgems/mruby-compiler/core/codegen.c
index 5c99df132..fc9f0d0e6 100644
--- a/mrbgems/mruby-compiler/core/codegen.c
+++ b/mrbgems/mruby-compiler/core/codegen.c
@@ -4095,19 +4095,3 @@ mrb_generate_code(mrb_state *mrb, parser_state *p)
 {
   return generate_code(mrb, p, VAL);
 }
-
-void
-mrb_irep_remove_lv(mrb_state *mrb, mrb_irep *irep)
-{
-  int i;
-
-  if (irep->flags & MRB_IREP_NO_FREE) return;
-  if (irep->lv) {
-    mrb_free(mrb, (void*)irep->lv);
-    irep->lv = NULL;
-  }
-  if (!irep->reps) return;
-  for (i = 0; i < irep->rlen; i++) {
-    mrb_irep_remove_lv(mrb, (mrb_irep*)irep->reps[i]);
-  }
-}