diff --git a/src/cyclictest/cyclictest.c b/src/cyclictest/cyclictest.c
index be8285a072b4..a08c91d9f4ca 100644
--- a/src/cyclictest/cyclictest.c
+++ b/src/cyclictest/cyclictest.c
@@ -615,7 +615,6 @@ static void *timerthread(void *param)
 		setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &itimer, NULL);
 	}
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	stat->threadstarted++;
 
 	while (!shutdown) {
diff --git a/src/include/rt-utils.h b/src/include/rt-utils.h
index f07b57d5f7c1..f6b3fede06f7 100644
--- a/src/include/rt-utils.h
+++ b/src/include/rt-utils.h
@@ -82,8 +82,6 @@ static inline int64_t calctime(struct timespec t)
 
 void rt_init(int argc, char *argv[]);
 
-void rt_test_start(void);
-
 void rt_write_json(const char *filename, int return_code,
 		   void (*cb)(FILE *, void *),
 		   void *data);
diff --git a/src/lib/rt-utils.c b/src/lib/rt-utils.c
index 11f386098867..6c0235d0d2e0 100644
--- a/src/lib/rt-utils.c
+++ b/src/lib/rt-utils.c
@@ -531,10 +531,6 @@ void rt_init(int argc, char *argv[])
 	get_timestamp(ts_start);
 }
 
-void rt_test_start(void)
-{
-}
-
 void rt_write_json(const char *filename, int return_code,
 		  void (*cb)(FILE *, void *),
 		  void *data)
diff --git a/src/oslat/oslat.c b/src/oslat/oslat.c
index 32de951f27c0..6108fede039c 100644
--- a/src/oslat/oslat.c
+++ b/src/oslat/oslat.c
@@ -854,7 +854,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		printf("Test starts...\n");
 	/* Reset n_threads to always run on all the cores */
 	g.n_threads = g.n_threads_total;
-	rt_test_start();
 	run_expt(threads, g.runtime);
 
 	if (!g.quiet)
diff --git a/src/pi_tests/pi_stress.c b/src/pi_tests/pi_stress.c
index 7782ea717c55..53c6af15afac 100644
--- a/src/pi_tests/pi_stress.c
+++ b/src/pi_tests/pi_stress.c
@@ -304,7 +304,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 	/* report */
 	banner();
-	rt_test_start();
 	start = time(NULL);
 
 	/* turn loose the threads */
diff --git a/src/pmqtest/pmqtest.c b/src/pmqtest/pmqtest.c
index edda7c69652e..6ad0a92ffb5c 100644
--- a/src/pmqtest/pmqtest.c
+++ b/src/pmqtest/pmqtest.c
@@ -582,7 +582,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	sigemptyset(&sigset);
 	pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, &sigset, NULL);
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	do {
 		int newsamples = 0, newtimeoutcount = 0;
 		int minsamples = INT_MAX;
diff --git a/src/ptsematest/ptsematest.c b/src/ptsematest/ptsematest.c
index 5822164386de..821e58428e6d 100644
--- a/src/ptsematest/ptsematest.c
+++ b/src/ptsematest/ptsematest.c
@@ -468,7 +468,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	maindelay.tv_sec = 0;
 	maindelay.tv_nsec = 50000000; /* 50 ms */
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	while (!shutdown) {
 		for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
 			shutdown |= receiver[i].shutdown | sender[i].shutdown;
diff --git a/src/rt-migrate-test/rt-migrate-test.c b/src/rt-migrate-test/rt-migrate-test.c
index 0c4dabeee249..62cc603c983b 100644
--- a/src/rt-migrate-test/rt-migrate-test.c
+++ b/src/rt-migrate-test/rt-migrate-test.c
@@ -621,7 +621,6 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 
 	setup_ftrace_marker();
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	for (loop=0; loop < nr_runs; loop++) {
 		unsigned long long end;
 
diff --git a/src/sched_deadline/cyclicdeadline.c b/src/sched_deadline/cyclicdeadline.c
index 4c81891bbe63..ffefa9e6fecb 100644
--- a/src/sched_deadline/cyclicdeadline.c
+++ b/src/sched_deadline/cyclicdeadline.c
@@ -1213,7 +1213,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (duration)
 		alarm(duration);
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	loop(sched_data, nr_threads);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nr_threads; i++) {
diff --git a/src/signaltest/signaltest.c b/src/signaltest/signaltest.c
index 2dd22070cb5d..6e8f6b51b003 100644
--- a/src/signaltest/signaltest.c
+++ b/src/signaltest/signaltest.c
@@ -500,7 +500,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			      strerror(status));
 	}
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	while (!shutdown) {
 		int allstarted = 1;
 
diff --git a/src/sigwaittest/sigwaittest.c b/src/sigwaittest/sigwaittest.c
index 98a740d2cce2..d0d79df940de 100644
--- a/src/sigwaittest/sigwaittest.c
+++ b/src/sigwaittest/sigwaittest.c
@@ -652,7 +652,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			    &sender[i]);
 	}
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	while (!mustshutdown) {
 		for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
 			mustshutdown |= receiver[i].shutdown |
diff --git a/src/ssdd/ssdd.c b/src/ssdd/ssdd.c
index 421688c7f47c..c5307648a82d 100644
--- a/src/ssdd/ssdd.c
+++ b/src/ssdd/ssdd.c
@@ -357,7 +357,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			forktests(i);
 	}
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	for (i = 0; i < nforks; i++) {
 		status = do_wait(&wait_pid, &ret_sig);
 		if (status != STATE_EXITED) {
diff --git a/src/svsematest/svsematest.c b/src/svsematest/svsematest.c
index 8c55b6b7c48d..22ea7bcb7374 100644
--- a/src/svsematest/svsematest.c
+++ b/src/svsematest/svsematest.c
@@ -724,7 +724,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			    &sender[i]);
 	}
 
-	rt_test_start();
 	while (!mustshutdown) {
 		for (i = 0; i < num_threads; i++)
 			mustshutdown |= receiver[i].shutdown |
