diff --git a/base/iostream.jl b/base/iostream.jl
index 0ab86c1005d1d2..35c92a6263d27c 100644
--- a/base/iostream.jl
+++ b/base/iostream.jl
@@ -221,12 +221,6 @@ read(s::IOStream, ::Type{Char}) = Char(ccall(:jl_getutf8, UInt32, (Ptr{Void},),
 take!(s::IOStream) =
     ccall(:jl_take_buffer, Vector{UInt8}, (Ptr{Void},), s.ios)
 
-function takebuf_raw(s::IOStream)
-    sz = position(s)
-    buf = ccall(:jl_takebuf_raw, Ptr{UInt8}, (Ptr{Void},), s.ios)
-    return buf, sz
-end
-
 function readuntil(s::IOStream, delim::UInt8)
     ccall(:jl_readuntil, Array{UInt8,1}, (Ptr{Void}, UInt8), s.ios, delim)
 end
diff --git a/src/julia.h b/src/julia.h
index 29146e1456668b..a6222b9a58c3d0 100644
--- a/src/julia.h
+++ b/src/julia.h
@@ -1585,7 +1585,6 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_tcp_bind(uv_tcp_t *handle, uint16_t port, uint32_t host,
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_sizeof_ios_t(void);
 
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_array_t *jl_take_buffer(ios_t *s);
-JL_DLLEXPORT void *jl_takebuf_raw(ios_t *s);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_readuntil(ios_t *s, uint8_t delim);
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/src/sys.c b/src/sys.c
index c2c23803ac71c0..b93c2dc500dbb8 100644
--- a/src/sys.c
+++ b/src/sys.c
@@ -250,15 +250,6 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT jl_array_t *jl_take_buffer(ios_t *s)
     return a;
 }
 
-// the returned buffer must be manually freed. To determine the size,
-// call position(s) before using this function.
-JL_DLLEXPORT void *jl_takebuf_raw(ios_t *s)
-{
-    size_t sz;
-    void *buf = ios_takebuf(s, &sz);
-    return buf;
-}
-
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_readuntil(ios_t *s, uint8_t delim)
 {
     jl_array_t *a;