diff --git a/trie/database.go b/trie/database.go
index 535ad87d72..2915ff9484 100644
--- a/trie/database.go
+++ b/trie/database.go
@@ -189,15 +189,6 @@ func (db *Database) WritePreimages() {
 	}
 }
 
-// Preimage retrieves a cached trie node pre-image from memory. If it cannot be
-// found cached, the method queries the persistent database for the content.
-func (db *Database) Preimage(hash common.Hash) []byte {
-	if db.preimages == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return db.preimages.preimage(hash)
-}
-
 // Cap iteratively flushes old but still referenced trie nodes until the total
 // memory usage goes below the given threshold. The held pre-images accumulated
 // up to this point will be flushed in case the size exceeds the threshold.