diff --git a/libubus.c b/libubus.c
index c1a1010..4c3d2c6 100644
--- a/libubus.c
+++ b/libubus.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ static int ubus_cmp_id(const void *k1, const void *k2, void *ptr)
 		return *id1 > *id2;
 }
 
-struct blob_attr **ubus_parse_msg(struct blob_attr *msg)
+static struct blob_attr **ubus_parse_msg(struct blob_attr *msg)
 {
 	blob_parse(msg, attrbuf, ubus_policy, UBUS_ATTR_MAX);
 	return attrbuf;
diff --git a/libubus.h b/libubus.h
index 49a147a..698e356 100644
--- a/libubus.h
+++ b/libubus.h
@@ -132,10 +132,6 @@ void ubus_free(struct ubus_context *ctx);
 
 const char *ubus_strerror(int error);
 
-/* ----------- helpers for message handling ----------- */
-
-struct blob_attr **ubus_parse_msg(struct blob_attr *msg);
-
 /* ----------- raw request handling ----------- */
 
 /* wait for a request to complete and return its status */