diff --git a/qemu-file.h b/qemu-file.h
index 7fe7274d1f35..289849a789ae 100644
--- a/qemu-file.h
+++ b/qemu-file.h
@@ -230,7 +230,4 @@ static inline void qemu_get_sbe64s(QEMUFile *f, int64_t *pv)
 {
     qemu_get_be64s(f, (uint64_t *)pv);
 }
-
-int64_t qemu_ftell(QEMUFile *f);
-
 #endif
diff --git a/savevm.c b/savevm.c
index ba69b44c8b37..32fe7a206753 100644
--- a/savevm.c
+++ b/savevm.c
@@ -664,7 +664,7 @@ int qemu_get_byte(QEMUFile *f)
     return result;
 }
 
-int64_t qemu_ftell(QEMUFile *f)
+static int64_t qemu_ftell(QEMUFile *f)
 {
     return f->buf_offset - f->buf_size + f->buf_index;
 }