diff --git a/trie/trie.go b/trie/trie.go
index fdf8414052..2e6f5c4ea7 100644
--- a/trie/trie.go
+++ b/trie/trie.go
@@ -48,10 +48,6 @@ type LeafCallback func(leaf []byte, parent common.Hash) error
 type Trie struct {
 	db   *Database
 	root node
-	// Keep a track of the number of leafs to commit. This counter is
-	// update for inserts and deletions of leafs, but does not accurately track the number
-	// of nodes
-	dirtyCount int
 	// Keep track of the number leafs which have been inserted since the last
 	// hashing operation. This number will not directly map to the number of
 	// actually unhashed nodes
@@ -172,7 +168,6 @@ func (t *Trie) Update(key, value []byte) {
 // If a node was not found in the database, a MissingNodeError is returned.
 func (t *Trie) TryUpdate(key, value []byte) error {
 	t.unhashedCount++
-	t.dirtyCount++
 	k := keybytesToHex(key)
 	if len(value) != 0 {
 		_, n, err := t.insert(t.root, nil, k, valueNode(value))
@@ -270,7 +265,6 @@ func (t *Trie) Delete(key []byte) {
 // If a node was not found in the database, a MissingNodeError is returned.
 func (t *Trie) TryDelete(key []byte) error {
 	t.unhashedCount++
-	t.dirtyCount++
 	k := keybytesToHex(key)
 	_, n, err := t.delete(t.root, nil, k)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -463,7 +457,6 @@ func (t *Trie) Commit(onleaf LeafCallback) (root common.Hash, err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return common.Hash{}, err
 	}
-	t.dirtyCount = 0
 	t.root = newRoot
 	return rootHash, nil
 }