diff --git a/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/interface/DDDetector.h b/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/interface/DDDetector.h
index 1953c0b8052d5..abd687b1c2aa2 100644
--- a/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/interface/DDDetector.h
+++ b/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/interface/DDDetector.h
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ namespace cms {
     explicit DDDetector(const std::string&, const std::string&);
     DDDetector() = delete;
 
-    ~DDDetector();
-
     // FIXME: remove the need for it
     Detector const* description() const { return m_description; }
 
diff --git a/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/src/DDDetector.cc b/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/src/DDDetector.cc
index ca2b2087ecfcd..7d70b42cf7eac 100644
--- a/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/src/DDDetector.cc
+++ b/DetectorDescription/DDCMS/src/DDDetector.cc
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ DDDetector::DDDetector(const string& tag, const string& fileName) : m_tag(tag) {
   process(fileName);
 }
 
-DDDetector::~DDDetector() { Detector::destroyInstance(m_tag); }
-
 void DDDetector::process(const string& fileName) {
   std::string name("DD4hep_CompactLoader");
   const char* files[] = {fileName.c_str(), nullptr};