diff --git a/mobile/android/geckoview/src/main/java/org/mozilla/gecko/GeckoAppShell.java b/mobile/android/geckoview/src/main/java/org/mozilla/gecko/GeckoAppShell.java
index 8c97b4e68087..143a746e56b5 100644
--- a/mobile/android/geckoview/src/main/java/org/mozilla/gecko/GeckoAppShell.java
+++ b/mobile/android/geckoview/src/main/java/org/mozilla/gecko/GeckoAppShell.java
@@ -1046,16 +1046,6 @@ public class GeckoAppShell
         return sScreenDepth;
     }
 
-    @WrapForJNI(calledFrom = "gecko")
-    private static synchronized void setScreenDepthOverride(int aScreenDepth) {
-        if (sScreenDepth != 0) {
-            Log.e(LOGTAG, "Tried to override screen depth after it's already been set");
-            throw new IllegalStateException();
-        }
-
-        sScreenDepth = aScreenDepth;
-    }
-
     @WrapForJNI(calledFrom = "gecko")
     private static void performHapticFeedback(boolean aIsLongPress) {
         // Don't perform haptic feedback if a vibration is currently playing,
diff --git a/widget/android/nsAppShell.cpp b/widget/android/nsAppShell.cpp
index bfbfc19fc173..f8062d5a8cfb 100644
--- a/widget/android/nsAppShell.cpp
+++ b/widget/android/nsAppShell.cpp
@@ -587,11 +587,6 @@ nsAppShell::Observe(nsISupports* aSubject,
 
     } else if (!strcmp(aTopic, "profile-after-change")) {
         if (jni::IsAvailable()) {
-            // See if we want to force 16-bit color before doing anything
-            if (Preferences::GetBool("gfx.android.rgb16.force", false)) {
-                java::GeckoAppShell::SetScreenDepthOverride(16);
-            }
-
             java::GeckoThread::SetState(
                     java::GeckoThread::State::PROFILE_READY());