diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index 1fd4ef85..b5860f24 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
   now we can get rid of im_aconvsep() since it's just vips_convsep() with prec
   set to approx
 
+  aconv needs some more work, get it going at least with gaussian
+
 - do conv and morph quickly as simple wrappers over the vips7 operations
 
 - add vips_gaussian_blur() with approx / int / float precision, maybe
diff --git a/libvips/convolution/Makefile.am b/libvips/convolution/Makefile.am
index 4e2f0bb4..a156a44f 100644
--- a/libvips/convolution/Makefile.am
+++ b/libvips/convolution/Makefile.am
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ libconvolution_la_SOURCES = \
 	compass.c \
 	morph.c \
 	convol_dispatch.c \
-	im_addgnoise.c \
 	im_aconv.c \
 	im_aconvsep.c \
 	im_conv.c \
diff --git a/libvips/convolution/im_addgnoise.c b/libvips/convolution/im_addgnoise.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 428eb2d9..00000000
--- a/libvips/convolution/im_addgnoise.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,83 +0,0 @@
-/* im_addgnoise
- *
- * Copyright 1990, N. Dessipris.
- *
- * File written on 2/12/1986
- * Author : N. Dessipris
- * Updated : 22/01/1991
- * 1/2/95 JC
- *	- junked!
- *	- now uses partial im_gaussnoise() and partial im_add() to do the
- *	  same job
- & 1/5/01 JC
- *	- oops, failed for not-1-band images
- *
- * 2008-01-28 tcv:
- *      - now works (was broken)
- *      - no limit on bands
- * 4/2/10
- * 	- no need to bandup here now, im_add() does that
- * 	- gtkdoc
- */
-
-/*
-
-    This file is part of VIPS.
-    
-    VIPS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
-    it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
-    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
-    (at your option) any later version.
-
-    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
-    GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-
-    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
-    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
-    Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
-    02110-1301  USA
-
- */
-
-/*
-
-    These files are distributed with VIPS - http://www.vips.ecs.soton.ac.uk
-
- */
-
-
-#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
-#include <config.h>
-#endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
-#include <vips/intl.h>
-
-#include <vips/vips.h>
-
-/**
- * im_addgnoise:
- * @in: input image
- * @out: output image
- * @sigma: standard deviation of noise
- *
- * Add gaussian noise with mean 0 and variance sigma to @in.
- * The noise is generated by averaging 12 random numbers,
- * see page 78, PIETGEN, 1989. 
- *
- * See also: im_gaussnoise().
- *
- * Returns: 0 on success, -1 on error
- */
-int
-im_addgnoise( IMAGE *in, IMAGE *out, double sigma )
-{
-	IMAGE *t;
-
-	if( !(t = im_open_local( out, "im_addgnoise", "p" )) ||
-		im_gaussnoise( t, in->Xsize, in->Ysize, 0, sigma ) ||
-		im_add( in, t, out ) )
-		return( -1 );
-
-	return( 0 );
-}
diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c b/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
index 5a3ccba9..a541845a 100644
--- a/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
@@ -2221,6 +2221,19 @@ im_convsep_f( IMAGE *in, IMAGE *out, DOUBLEMASK *mask )
 	return( 0 );
 }
 
+int
+im_addgnoise( IMAGE *in, IMAGE *out, double sigma )
+{
+	IMAGE *t;
+
+	if( !(t = im_open_local( out, "im_addgnoise", "p" )) ||
+		im_gaussnoise( t, in->Xsize, in->Ysize, 0, sigma ) ||
+		im_add( in, t, out ) )
+		return( -1 );
+
+	return( 0 );
+}
+
 static int
 vips__round( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, VipsOperationRound round )
 {
diff --git a/libvips/include/vips/convolution.h b/libvips/include/vips/convolution.h
index 4d256b3f..3ce122f8 100644
--- a/libvips/include/vips/convolution.h
+++ b/libvips/include/vips/convolution.h
@@ -97,8 +97,6 @@ int im_gradcor( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *ref, VipsImage *out );
 int im_contrast_surface( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, 
 	int half_win_size, int spacing );
 
-int im_addgnoise( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, double sigma );
-
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif /*__cplusplus*/
diff --git a/libvips/include/vips/vips7compat.h b/libvips/include/vips/vips7compat.h
index bf4830b8..ba476e4c 100644
--- a/libvips/include/vips/vips7compat.h
+++ b/libvips/include/vips/vips7compat.h
@@ -916,6 +916,8 @@ int im_compass( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, INTMASK *mask );
 int im_gradient( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, INTMASK *mask );
 int im_lindetect( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, INTMASK *mask );
 
+int im_addgnoise( VipsImage *in, VipsImage *out, double sigma );
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif /*__cplusplus*/