diff --git a/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp b/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
index cfa698dca..0868cd663 100644
--- a/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.cpp
@@ -265,11 +265,6 @@ HessianFactor::HessianFactor(const GaussianFactor& gf) :
   }
 }
 
-/* ************************************************************************* */
-namespace {
-DenseIndex _dimFromScatterEntry(const Scatter::value_type& key_slotentry) {
-  return key_slotentry.second.dimension; } }
-
 /* ************************************************************************* */
 HessianFactor::HessianFactor(const GaussianFactorGraph& factors,
     boost::optional<const Scatter&> scatter)