diff --git a/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c b/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
index f8e9529a..e8e98add 100644
--- a/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
+++ b/libvips/deprecated/vips7compat.c
@@ -50,12 +50,6 @@
 #include <vips/vector.h>
 #include <vips/transform.h>
 
-int 
-im_init_world( const char *argv0 )
-{
-	return( vips_init( argv0 ) ); 
-}
-
 VipsImage *
 im_open( const char *filename, const char *mode )
 {