diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-debug.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-debug.c
index 764a86176..350b83d97 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-debug.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-debug.c
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#include "cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-debug.h"
 
@@ -174,26 +173,23 @@ _cogl_parse_debug_string (const char *value,
     }
   else if (g_ascii_strcasecmp (value, "help") == 0)
     {
-      g_printerr ("\n\n%28s\n", _("Supported debug values:"));
+      g_printerr ("\n\n%28s\n", "Supported debug values:");
 #define OPT(MASK_NAME, GROUP, NAME, NAME_FORMATTED, DESCRIPTION) \
       g_printerr ("%28s %s\n", NAME ":", DESCRIPTION);
-#include "cogl/cogl-debug-options.h"
-      g_printerr ("\n%28s\n", _("Special debug values:"));
+      g_printerr ("\n%28s\n", "Special debug values:");
       OPT (IGNORED, "ignored", "all", "ignored", \
-           N_("Enables all non-behavioural debug options"));
+           "Enables all non-behavioural debug options");
       OPT (IGNORED, "ignored", "verbose", "ignored", \
-           N_("Enables all non-behavioural debug options"));
+           "Enables all non-behavioural debug options");
 #undef OPT
 
       g_printerr ("\n"
                   "%28s\n"
                   " COGL_DISABLE_GL_EXTENSIONS: %s\n"
                   "   COGL_OVERRIDE_GL_VERSION: %s\n",
-                  _("Additional environment variables:"),
-                  _("Comma-separated list of GL extensions to pretend are "
-                    "disabled"),
-                  _("Override the GL version that Cogl will assume the driver "
-                    "supports"));
+                  "Additional environment variables:",
+                  "Comma-separated list of GL extensions to pretend are disabled",
+                  "Override the GL version that Cogl will assume the driver supports");
       exit (1);
     }
   else
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h b/cogl/cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 8d3edd4fe..000000000
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Cogl
- *
- * A Low Level GPU Graphics and Utilities API
- *
- * Copyright (C) 2013 Intel Corporation.
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
- * obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
- * files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
- * restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy,
- * modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
- * of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
- * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
- * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
- * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
- * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
- * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
- * BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
- * ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
- * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
- * SOFTWARE.
- *
- *
- */
-
-#pragma once
-
-#include <string.h>
-
-#define _(X) X
-#define N_(X) X
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-profile.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-profile.c
index 4d7af2c61..172768547 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-profile.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-profile.c
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 #include "cogl/cogl-profile.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-debug.h"
-#include "cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h"
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
index 3e94d607f..ffe0251a2 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl.c
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 #include <math.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#include "cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-cpu-caps.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-debug.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-graphene.h"
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/meson.build b/cogl/cogl/meson.build
index ea4b23982..1a1d5d47c 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/meson.build
+++ b/cogl/cogl/meson.build
@@ -196,7 +196,6 @@ cogl_sources = [
   'cogl-graphene.c',
   'cogl-half-float.c',
   'cogl-half-float.h',
-  'cogl-i18n-private.h',
   'cogl-index-buffer-private.h',
   'cogl-index-buffer.c',
   'cogl-indices-private.h',
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c b/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
index b37ba1531..046220da1 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-egl.c
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
-#include "cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-util.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-feature-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-context-private.h"
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c b/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
index bed116eff..f332637a3 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/winsys/cogl-winsys-glx.c
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
-#include "cogl/cogl-i18n-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-util.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-feature-private.h"
 #include "cogl/cogl-context-private.h"