diff --git a/gtsam/linear/Errors.cpp b/gtsam/linear/Errors.cpp
index 4b30dcc08..41c6c3d09 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/Errors.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/linear/Errors.cpp
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ double dot(const Errors& a, const Errors& b) {
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
-template<>
 void axpy(double alpha, const Errors& x, Errors& y) {
   Errors::const_iterator it = x.begin();
   for(Vector& yi: y)
diff --git a/gtsam/linear/Errors.h b/gtsam/linear/Errors.h
index e8ba7344e..f6e147084 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/Errors.h
+++ b/gtsam/linear/Errors.h
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ namespace gtsam {
   /**
   * BLAS level 2 style
   */
-  template <>
   GTSAM_EXPORT void axpy(double alpha, const Errors& x, Errors& y);
 
   /** print with optional string */