diff --git a/include/qemu/hbitmap.h b/include/qemu/hbitmap.h
index ab227b117f..15837a0e2d 100644
--- a/include/qemu/hbitmap.h
+++ b/include/qemu/hbitmap.h
@@ -297,13 +297,6 @@ void hbitmap_free(HBitmap *hb);
  */
 void hbitmap_iter_init(HBitmapIter *hbi, const HBitmap *hb, uint64_t first);
 
-/* hbitmap_iter_skip_words:
- * @hbi: HBitmapIter to operate on.
- *
- * Internal function used by hbitmap_iter_next and hbitmap_iter_next_word.
- */
-unsigned long hbitmap_iter_skip_words(HBitmapIter *hbi);
-
 /* hbitmap_next_zero:
  *
  * Find next not dirty bit within selected range. If not found, return -1.
diff --git a/util/hbitmap.c b/util/hbitmap.c
index a368dc5ef7..26145d4b9e 100644
--- a/util/hbitmap.c
+++ b/util/hbitmap.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ struct HBitmap {
 /* Advance hbi to the next nonzero word and return it.  hbi->pos
  * is updated.  Returns zero if we reach the end of the bitmap.
  */
-unsigned long hbitmap_iter_skip_words(HBitmapIter *hbi)
+static unsigned long hbitmap_iter_skip_words(HBitmapIter *hbi)
 {
     size_t pos = hbi->pos;
     const HBitmap *hb = hbi->hb;