diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index eee31fd9fa..4ffeb8ae0c 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -5660,9 +5660,9 @@ char *virDomainDefFormat(virDomainDefPtr def,
     return NULL;
 }
 
-char *virDomainObjFormat(virCapsPtr caps,
-                         virDomainObjPtr obj,
-                         int flags)
+static char *virDomainObjFormat(virCapsPtr caps,
+                                virDomainObjPtr obj,
+                                int flags)
 {
     char *config_xml = NULL;
     virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index f906c79b8f..5cc59e346e 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -818,9 +818,6 @@ int virDomainDefAddImplicitControllers(virDomainDefPtr def);
 #endif
 char *virDomainDefFormat(virDomainDefPtr def,
                          int flags);
-char *virDomainObjFormat(virCapsPtr caps,
-                         virDomainObjPtr obj,
-                         int flags);
 
 int virDomainCpuSetParse(const char **str,
                          char sep,