diff --git a/include/vlc/libvlc.h b/include/vlc/libvlc.h
index 949d4a38f1..f488bdaf9b 100644
--- a/include/vlc/libvlc.h
+++ b/include/vlc/libvlc.h
@@ -98,15 +98,6 @@ LIBVLC_API const char *libvlc_errmsg (void);
  */
 LIBVLC_API void libvlc_clearerr (void);
 
-/**
- * Sets the LibVLC error status and message for the current thread.
- * Any previous error is overridden.
- * \param fmt the format string
- * \param ap the arguments
- * \return a nul terminated string in any case
- */
-LIBVLC_API const char *libvlc_vprinterr (const char *fmt, va_list ap);
-
 /**
  * Sets the LibVLC error status and message for the current thread.
  * Any previous error is overridden.
@@ -114,7 +105,7 @@ LIBVLC_API const char *libvlc_vprinterr (const char *fmt, va_list ap);
  * \param ...  the arguments for the format string
  * \return a nul terminated string in any case
  */
-LIBVLC_API const char *libvlc_printerr (const char *fmt, ...);
+const char *libvlc_printerr (const char *fmt, ...);
 
 /**@} */
 
diff --git a/lib/error.c b/lib/error.c
index c0ea46067d..cb2b6f1804 100644
--- a/lib/error.c
+++ b/lib/error.c
@@ -97,9 +97,11 @@ void libvlc_clearerr (void)
 /**
  * Sets the LibVLC error status and message for the current thread.
  * Any previous error is overridden.
- * @return a nul terminated string (always)
+ * \param fmt the format string
+ * \param ap the arguments
+ * \return a nul terminated string in any case
  */
-const char *libvlc_vprinterr (const char *fmt, va_list ap)
+static const char *libvlc_vprinterr (const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
     char *msg;
 
diff --git a/lib/libvlc.sym b/lib/libvlc.sym
index 73fa2bb0d1..aaedeec631 100644
--- a/lib/libvlc.sym
+++ b/lib/libvlc.sym
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 libvlc_errmsg
 libvlc_clearerr
-libvlc_printerr
-libvlc_vprinterr
 libvlc_add_intf
 libvlc_audio_equalizer_get_amp_at_index
 libvlc_audio_equalizer_get_band_count