diff --git a/src/grib_accessor_class_non_alpha.cc b/src/grib_accessor_class_non_alpha.cc
index bec790fd2..55ee9f917 100644
--- a/src/grib_accessor_class_non_alpha.cc
+++ b/src/grib_accessor_class_non_alpha.cc
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
    IMPLEMENTS = value_count
    IMPLEMENTS = next_offset
    IMPLEMENTS = get_native_type
-   IMPLEMENTS = compare
    END_CLASS_DEF
 
  */
@@ -46,7 +45,6 @@ static long next_offset(grib_accessor*);
 static int value_count(grib_accessor*, long*);
 static void dump(grib_accessor*, grib_dumper*);
 static void init(grib_accessor*, const long, grib_arguments*);
-static int compare(grib_accessor*, grib_accessor*);
 
 typedef struct grib_accessor_non_alpha
 {
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ static grib_accessor_class _grib_accessor_class_non_alpha = {
     0,                     /* resize */
     0,      /* nearest_smaller_value */
     0,                       /* next accessor */
-    &compare,                    /* compare vs. another accessor */
+    0,                    /* compare vs. another accessor */
     0,      /* unpack only ith value (double) */
     0,       /* unpack only ith value (float) */
     0,  /* unpack a given set of elements (double) */
@@ -213,46 +211,6 @@ static int unpack_double(grib_accessor* a, double* v, size_t* len)
     return GRIB_NOT_IMPLEMENTED;
 }
 
-static int compare(grib_accessor* a, grib_accessor* b)
-{
-    int retval = 0;
-    char* aval = 0;
-    char* bval = 0;
-    int err    = 0;
-
-    size_t alen = 0;
-    size_t blen = 0;
-    long count  = 0;
-
-    err = grib_value_count(a, &count);
-    if (err)
-        return err;
-    alen = count;
-
-    err = grib_value_count(b, &count);
-    if (err)
-        return err;
-    blen = count;
-
-    if (alen != blen)
-        return GRIB_COUNT_MISMATCH;
-
-    aval = (char*)grib_context_malloc(a->context, alen * sizeof(char));
-    bval = (char*)grib_context_malloc(b->context, blen * sizeof(char));
-
-    grib_unpack_string(a, aval, &alen);
-    grib_unpack_string(b, bval, &blen);
-
-    retval = GRIB_SUCCESS;
-    if (strcmp(aval, bval))
-        retval = GRIB_STRING_VALUE_MISMATCH;
-
-    grib_context_free(a->context, aval);
-    grib_context_free(b->context, bval);
-
-    return retval;
-}
-
 static long next_offset(grib_accessor* a)
 {
     return a->offset + a->length;