diff --git a/TODO b/TODO
index 413b14f9..6c3ae015 100644
--- a/TODO
+++ b/TODO
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-- vipsthumbnail needs to know about pdfload
-
-- trim page edges? we often have black now
+- vipsthumbnail needs to know about pdfload ... open, get size, open again
+  with scale set to make a thumbnail
 
 - could load pdf thumbnails?
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/pdfload.c b/libvips/foreign/pdfload.c
index 89082568..7dfd1f08 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/pdfload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/pdfload.c
@@ -169,7 +169,6 @@ static void
 vips_foreign_load_pdf_parse( VipsForeignLoadPdf *pdf, 
 	VipsImage *out )
 {
-	PopplerRectangle crop_box;
 	double width;
 	double height;
 	double res;
@@ -177,8 +176,6 @@ vips_foreign_load_pdf_parse( VipsForeignLoadPdf *pdf,
 
 	poppler_page_get_size( pdf->page, &width, &height ); 
 
-	poppler_page_get_crop_box( pdf->page, &crop_box ); 
-
 	/* We need pixels/mm for vips.
 	 */
 	res = pdf->dpi / 25.4;