diff --git a/libavcodec/mqc.h b/libavcodec/mqc.h
index 8bf7223d41..73604d5efe 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mqc.h
+++ b/libavcodec/mqc.h
@@ -54,9 +54,6 @@ void ff_mqc_initenc(MqcState *mqc, uint8_t *bp);
 /** code bit d with context cx */
 void ff_mqc_encode(MqcState *mqc, uint8_t *cxstate, int d);
 
-/** number of encoded bytes */
-int ff_mqc_length(MqcState *mqc);
-
 /** flush the encoder [returns number of bytes encoded] */
 int ff_mqc_flush(MqcState *mqc);
 int ff_mqc_flush_to(MqcState *mqc, uint8_t *dst, int *dst_len);
diff --git a/libavcodec/mqcenc.c b/libavcodec/mqcenc.c
index 7c9e1a0df9..c941f849d9 100644
--- a/libavcodec/mqcenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/mqcenc.c
@@ -102,11 +102,6 @@ void ff_mqc_encode(MqcState *mqc, uint8_t *cxstate, int d)
     }
 }
 
-int ff_mqc_length(MqcState *mqc)
-{
-    return mqc->bp - mqc->bpstart;
-}
-
 int ff_mqc_flush(MqcState *mqc)
 {
     setbits(mqc);