diff --git a/rtengine/rtthumbnail.cc b/rtengine/rtthumbnail.cc
index c956b9032..4507f2b40 100644
--- a/rtengine/rtthumbnail.cc
+++ b/rtengine/rtthumbnail.cc
@@ -2253,44 +2253,6 @@ bool Thumbnail::writeEmbProfile (const Glib::ustring& fname)
     return false;
 }
 
-bool Thumbnail::readAEHistogram  (const Glib::ustring& fname)
-{
-
-    FILE* f = g_fopen(fname.c_str(), "rb");
-
-    if (!f) {
-        aeHistogram.reset();
-    } else {
-        aeHistogram(65536 >> aeHistCompression);
-        const size_t histoBytes = (65536 >> aeHistCompression) * sizeof(aeHistogram[0]);
-        const size_t bytesRead = fread(&aeHistogram[0], 1, histoBytes, f);
-        fclose (f);
-        if (bytesRead != histoBytes) {
-            aeHistogram.reset();
-            return false;
-        }
-        return true;
-    }
-
-    return false;
-}
-
-bool Thumbnail::writeAEHistogram (const Glib::ustring& fname)
-{
-
-    if (aeHistogram) {
-        FILE* f = g_fopen (fname.c_str (), "wb");
-
-        if (f) {
-            fwrite (&aeHistogram[0], 1, (65536 >> aeHistCompression)*sizeof (aeHistogram[0]), f);
-            fclose (f);
-            return true;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return false;
-}
-
 unsigned char* Thumbnail::getImage8Data()
 {
     if (thumbImg && thumbImg->getType() == rtengine::sImage8) {
diff --git a/rtengine/rtthumbnail.h b/rtengine/rtthumbnail.h
index c8d657a62..ccca1c582 100644
--- a/rtengine/rtthumbnail.h
+++ b/rtengine/rtthumbnail.h
@@ -113,10 +113,6 @@ public:
     bool readEmbProfile  (const Glib::ustring& fname);
     bool writeEmbProfile (const Glib::ustring& fname);
 
-    bool readAEHistogram  (const Glib::ustring& fname);
-    bool writeAEHistogram (const Glib::ustring& fname);
-
-    bool isAeValid() { return aeValid; };
     unsigned char* getImage8Data();  // accessor to the 8bit image if it is one, which should be the case for the "Inspector" mode.
 
     // Hombre: ... let's hope that proper template can make this cleaner
diff --git a/rtgui/thumbnail.cc b/rtgui/thumbnail.cc
index 5295b9d61..87bc730eb 100644
--- a/rtgui/thumbnail.cc
+++ b/rtgui/thumbnail.cc
@@ -887,11 +887,6 @@ void Thumbnail::_loadThumbnail(bool firstTrial)
     }
 
     if ( cfs.thumbImgType == CacheImageData::FULL_THUMBNAIL ) {
-        if(!tpp->isAeValid()) {
-            // load aehistogram
-            tpp->readAEHistogram (getCacheFileName ("aehistograms", ""));
-        }
-
         // load embedded profile
         tpp->readEmbProfile (getCacheFileName ("embprofiles", ".icc"));
 
@@ -937,10 +932,6 @@ void Thumbnail::_saveThumbnail ()
     // save thumbnail image
     tpp->writeImage (getCacheFileName ("images", ""));
 
-    if(!tpp->isAeValid()) {
-        // save aehistogram
-        tpp->writeAEHistogram (getCacheFileName ("aehistograms", ""));
-    }
     // save embedded profile
     tpp->writeEmbProfile (getCacheFileName ("embprofiles", ".icc"));