diff --git a/remote-curl.c b/remote-curl.c
index 598cff7cde..3f5688e426 100644
--- a/remote-curl.c
+++ b/remote-curl.c
@@ -1478,8 +1478,8 @@ int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	options.verbosity = 1;
 	options.progress = !!isatty(2);
 	options.thin = 1;
-	string_list_init(&options.deepen_not, 1);
-	string_list_init(&options.push_options, 1);
+	string_list_init_dup(&options.deepen_not);
+	string_list_init_dup(&options.push_options);
 
 	/*
 	 * Just report "remote-curl" here (folding all the various aliases
diff --git a/string-list.c b/string-list.c
index 43576ad126..549fc416d6 100644
--- a/string-list.c
+++ b/string-list.c
@@ -13,14 +13,6 @@ void string_list_init_dup(struct string_list *list)
 	memcpy(list, &blank, sizeof(*list));
 }
 
-void string_list_init(struct string_list *list, int strdup_strings)
-{
-	if (strdup_strings)
-		string_list_init_dup(list);
-	else
-		string_list_init_nodup(list);
-}
-
 /* if there is no exact match, point to the index where the entry could be
  * inserted */
 static int get_entry_index(const struct string_list *list, const char *string,
diff --git a/string-list.h b/string-list.h
index 0d6b469239..267d6e5769 100644
--- a/string-list.h
+++ b/string-list.h
@@ -104,11 +104,6 @@ struct string_list {
 void string_list_init_nodup(struct string_list *list);
 void string_list_init_dup(struct string_list *list);
 
-/**
- * TODO remove: For compatibility with any in-flight older API users
- */
-void string_list_init(struct string_list *list, int strdup_strings);
-
 /** Callback function type for for_each_string_list */
 typedef int (*string_list_each_func_t)(struct string_list_item *, void *);