diff --git a/date.c b/date.c
index 6f45eeb3568..923e62cfd20 100644
--- a/date.c
+++ b/date.c
@@ -1365,20 +1365,6 @@ static timestamp_t approxidate_str(const char *date,
 	return (timestamp_t)update_tm(&tm, &now, 0);
 }
 
-timestamp_t approxidate_relative(const char *date)
-{
-	struct timeval tv;
-	timestamp_t timestamp;
-	int offset;
-	int errors = 0;
-
-	if (!parse_date_basic(date, &timestamp, &offset))
-		return timestamp;
-
-	get_time(&tv);
-	return approxidate_str(date, (const struct timeval *) &tv, &errors);
-}
-
 timestamp_t approxidate_careful(const char *date, int *error_ret)
 {
 	struct timeval tv;
diff --git a/date.h b/date.h
index 5d4eaba0a90..6136212a190 100644
--- a/date.h
+++ b/date.h
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ int parse_expiry_date(const char *date, timestamp_t *timestamp);
 void datestamp(struct strbuf *out);
 #define approxidate(s) approxidate_careful((s), NULL)
 timestamp_t approxidate_careful(const char *, int *);
-timestamp_t approxidate_relative(const char *date);
 int date_overflows(timestamp_t date);
 time_t tm_to_time_t(const struct tm *tm);
 #endif
diff --git a/t/helper/test-date.c b/t/helper/test-date.c
index 45951b1df87..80ffe9fec47 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-date.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-date.c
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ static void parse_approxidate(const char **argv)
 {
 	for (; *argv; argv++) {
 		timestamp_t t;
-		t = approxidate_relative(*argv);
+		t = approxidate(*argv);
 		printf("%s -> %s\n", *argv, show_date(t, 0, DATE_MODE(ISO8601)));
 	}
 }
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ static void parse_approx_timestamp(const char **argv)
 {
 	for (; *argv; argv++) {
 		timestamp_t t;
-		t = approxidate_relative(*argv);
+		t = approxidate(*argv);
 		printf("%s -> %"PRItime"\n", *argv, t);
 	}
 }