diff --git a/rtgui/guiutils.cc b/rtgui/guiutils.cc
index 91348e52f..4d9dd3c5c 100644
--- a/rtgui/guiutils.cc
+++ b/rtgui/guiutils.cc
@@ -1330,26 +1330,6 @@ BackBuffer::BackBuffer(int width, int height, Cairo::Format format) : x(0), y(0)
     }
 }
 
-BackBuffer::BackBuffer(int width, int height, Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Window> referenceWindow) : x(0), y(0), w(width), h(height), offset(0, 0), dirty(true)
-{
-    if (w > 0 && h > 0 && referenceWindow) {
-        Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Surface> surf = referenceWindow->create_similar_image_surface(Cairo::FORMAT_RGB24, w, h, 0);
-        Cairo::SurfaceType type = surf->get_type();
-
-        if (type == Cairo::SURFACE_TYPE_IMAGE || type == Cairo::SURFACE_TYPE_WIN32) {
-            surface = Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::ImageSurface>::cast_static(surf);
-
-            if (!surface || !surface->get_width() || !surface->get_height()) {
-                printf("ERRRROOOOORRRR!\n");
-            }
-        } else {
-            printf("ERROR: wrong surface type. 0 or 7 was expected, but we've got %d instead.\n", type);
-        }
-    } else {
-        w = h = 0;
-    }
-}
-
 void BackBuffer::setDestPosition(int x, int y)
 {
     // values will be clamped when used...
diff --git a/rtgui/guiutils.h b/rtgui/guiutils.h
index a6ec916f0..085027577 100644
--- a/rtgui/guiutils.h
+++ b/rtgui/guiutils.h
@@ -509,7 +509,6 @@ protected:
 public:
     BackBuffer();
     BackBuffer(int w, int h, Cairo::Format format = Cairo::FORMAT_RGB24);
-    BackBuffer(int w, int h, Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Window> referenceWindow);
 
     // set the destination drawing rectangle; return true if the dimensions are different
     // Note: newW & newH must be > 0
diff --git a/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc b/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
index d6c2acd9d..531ed8c25 100644
--- a/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
+++ b/rtgui/thumbbrowserbase.cc
@@ -697,10 +697,8 @@ void ThumbBrowserBase::Internal::on_realize()
     bgn = style->get_background_color(Gtk::STATE_FLAG_NORMAL);
     bgs = style->get_background_color(Gtk::STATE_FLAG_SELECTED);
 
-    Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Window> window = get_window();
     set_can_focus(true);
     add_events(Gdk::EXPOSURE_MASK | Gdk::BUTTON_PRESS_MASK | Gdk::BUTTON_RELEASE_MASK | Gdk::POINTER_MOTION_MASK | Gdk::SCROLL_MASK | Gdk::KEY_PRESS_MASK);
-    //cc = window->create_cairo_context();
     set_has_tooltip (true);
     signal_query_tooltip().connect( sigc::mem_fun(*this, &ThumbBrowserBase::Internal::on_query_tooltip) );
 }
@@ -842,8 +840,6 @@ bool ThumbBrowserBase::Internal::on_draw(const ::Cairo::RefPtr< Cairo::Context>
 
     dirty = false;
 
-    Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Window> window = get_window();
-
     int w = get_width();
     int h = get_height();
 
diff --git a/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.cc b/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.cc
index 378e8d63b..cf0ce1bb3 100644
--- a/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.cc
+++ b/rtgui/thumbbrowserentrybase.cc
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ void ThumbBrowserEntryBase::updateBackBuffer ()
         backBuffer.reset();
     }
     if (!backBuffer) {
-        backBuffer = Glib::RefPtr<BackBuffer> ( new BackBuffer (exp_width, exp_height, Cairo::FORMAT_RGB24) );
+        backBuffer = Glib::RefPtr<BackBuffer>(new BackBuffer(exp_width, exp_height));
     }
 
     // If thumbnail is hidden by a filter, drawing to it will crash