diff --git a/Makefile.local b/Makefile.local
index 1131dea8..935f0f1e 100644
--- a/Makefile.local
+++ b/Makefile.local
@@ -301,7 +301,6 @@ notmuch_client_srcs =		\
 	notmuch-tag.c		\
 	notmuch-time.c		\
 	query-string.c		\
-	show-message.c		\
 	mime-node.c		\
 	json.c
 
diff --git a/notmuch-client.h b/notmuch-client.h
index 880b153e..f9fc0a67 100644
--- a/notmuch-client.h
+++ b/notmuch-client.h
@@ -184,11 +184,6 @@ notmuch_time_elapsed (struct timeval start, struct timeval end);
 char *
 query_string_from_args (void *ctx, int argc, char *argv[]);
 
-notmuch_status_t
-show_message_body (notmuch_message_t *message,
-		   const notmuch_show_format_t *format,
-		   notmuch_show_params_t *params);
-
 notmuch_status_t
 show_one_part (const char *filename, int part);
 
diff --git a/show-message.c b/show-message.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 83ecf813..00000000
--- a/show-message.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-/* notmuch - Not much of an email program, (just index and search)
- *
- * Copyright © 2009 Carl Worth
- * Copyright © 2009 Keith Packard
- *
- * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
- * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
- * (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- * along with this program.  If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ .
- *
- * Authors: Carl Worth <cworth@cworth.org>
- *	    Keith Packard <keithp@keithp.com>
- */
-
-#include "notmuch-client.h"
-
-typedef struct show_message_state {
-    int part_count;
-} show_message_state_t;
-
-static void
-show_message_part (mime_node_t *node,
-		   show_message_state_t *state,
-		   const notmuch_show_format_t *format,
-		   int first)
-{
-    /* Formatters expect the envelope for embedded message parts */
-    GMimeObject *part = node->envelope_part ?
-	GMIME_OBJECT (node->envelope_part) : node->part;
-    int i;
-
-    if (!first)
-	fputs (format->part_sep, stdout);
-
-    /* Format this part */
-    if (format->part_start)
-	format->part_start (part, &(state->part_count));
-
-    if (node->decrypt_attempted && format->part_encstatus)
-	format->part_encstatus (node->decrypt_success);
-
-    if (node->verify_attempted && format->part_sigstatus)
-#ifdef GMIME_ATLEAST_26
-	format->part_sigstatus (node->sig_list);
-#else
-	format->part_sigstatus (node->sig_validity);
-#endif
-
-    format->part_content (part);
-
-    if (node->envelope_part) {
-	fputs (format->header_start, stdout);
-	if (format->header_message_part)
-	    format->header_message_part (GMIME_MESSAGE (node->part));
-	fputs (format->header_end, stdout);
-
-	fputs (format->body_start, stdout);
-    }
-
-    /* Recurse over the children */
-    state->part_count += 1;
-    for (i = 0; i < node->nchildren; i++)
-	show_message_part (mime_node_child (node, i), state, format, i == 0);
-
-    /* Finish this part */
-    if (node->envelope_part)
-	fputs (format->body_end, stdout);
-
-    if (format->part_end)
-	format->part_end (part);
-}
-
-notmuch_status_t
-show_message_body (notmuch_message_t *message,
-		   const notmuch_show_format_t *format,
-		   notmuch_show_params_t *params)
-{
-    notmuch_status_t ret;
-    show_message_state_t state;
-    mime_node_t *root, *part;
-
-    ret = mime_node_open (NULL, message, params->cryptoctx, params->decrypt,
-			  &root);
-    if (ret)
-	return ret;
-
-    /* The caller of show_message_body has already handled the
-     * outermost envelope, so skip it. */
-    state.part_count = MAX (params->part, 1);
-
-    part = mime_node_seek_dfs (root, state.part_count);
-    if (part)
-	show_message_part (part, &state, format, TRUE);
-
-    talloc_free (root);
-
-    return NOTMUCH_STATUS_SUCCESS;
-}