diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.c b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.c
index adf2a04e1c..12124b8974 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.c
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.c
@@ -586,20 +586,6 @@ gst_vaapi_decoder_init (GstVaapiDecoder * decoder)
       gst_video_codec_frame_unref);
 }
 
-/**
- * gst_vaapi_decoder_ref:
- * @decoder: a #GstVaapiDecoder
- *
- * Atomically increases the reference count of the given @decoder by one.
- *
- * Returns: The same @decoder argument
- */
-GstVaapiDecoder *
-gst_vaapi_decoder_ref (GstVaapiDecoder * decoder)
-{
-  return gst_object_ref (decoder);
-}
-
 /**
  * gst_vaapi_decoder_unref:
  * @decoder: a #GstVaapiDecoder
diff --git a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.h b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.h
index e0a6059d07..acb26493ed 100644
--- a/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.h
+++ b/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapidecoder.h
@@ -80,9 +80,6 @@ typedef enum {
 GType
 gst_vaapi_decoder_get_type (void) G_GNUC_CONST;
 
-GstVaapiDecoder *
-gst_vaapi_decoder_ref (GstVaapiDecoder * decoder);
-
 void
 gst_vaapi_decoder_unref (GstVaapiDecoder * decoder);