diff --git a/petl/test/io/test_xml.py b/petl/test/io/test_xml.py
index 4de2e965..2305f5a2 100644
--- a/petl/test/io/test_xml.py
+++ b/petl/test/io/test_xml.py
@@ -307,11 +307,6 @@ def test_fromxml_entity():
         assert True, 'Error testing XML'
 
 
-def _get_temp_file():
-    with NamedTemporaryFile(delete=True, mode='wt') as f:
-        return f.name
-
-
 def _check_toxml(table, expected, check=(), **kwargs):
     with NamedTemporaryFile(delete=True, mode='wt') as f:
         filename = f.name