diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
index ea550a6d534b..0962a1ec2fc0 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/setup.sh
@@ -211,18 +211,6 @@ isELF() {
     if [ "$magic" = $'\177ELF' ]; then return 0; else return 1; fi
 }
 
-# Return success if the specified file is an ELF object
-# and its e_type is ET_EXEC (executable file)
-isELFExec() {
-    grep -ao -P '^\177ELF.{11}\x00\x02' "$1" >/dev/null
-}
-
-# Return success if the specified file is an ELF object
-# and its e_type is ET_DYN (shared object file)
-isELFDyn() {
-    grep -ao -P '^\177ELF.{11}\x00\x03' "$1" >/dev/null
-}
-
 # Return success if the specified file is a script (i.e. starts with
 # "#!").
 isScript() {