diff --git a/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php b/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
index 8fbca139a8..c6fbc0f341 100644
--- a/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
+++ b/plugins/OStatus/lib/magicenvelope.php
@@ -217,19 +217,6 @@ class MagicEnvelope
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Check if the author in the Atom entry fragment claims to match
-     * the given identifier URI.
-     *
-     * @param string $text string containing Atom entry XML
-     * @param string $signer_uri
-     * @return boolean
-     */
-    public function checkAuthor($text, $signer_uri)
-    {
-        return ($this->getAuthor($text) == $signer_uri);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Attempt to verify cryptographic signing for parsed envelope data.
      * Requires network access to retrieve public key referenced by the envelope signer.