diff --git a/python/core/auto_generated/qgis.sip.in b/python/core/auto_generated/qgis.sip.in
index 722a8427eda2..2f3225c239e8 100644
--- a/python/core/auto_generated/qgis.sip.in
+++ b/python/core/auto_generated/qgis.sip.in
@@ -869,7 +869,6 @@ QString qgsVsiPrefix( const QString &path );
 
 
 
-
 const long GEOSRID;
 
 const long GEOCRS_ID;
diff --git a/src/core/qgis.cpp b/src/core/qgis.cpp
index 7286006e08ba..62d2db6880d5 100644
--- a/src/core/qgis.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgis.cpp
@@ -91,30 +91,22 @@ qlonglong qgsPermissiveToLongLong( QString string, bool &ok )
 
 void *qgsMalloc( size_t size )
 {
-  if ( size == 0 || long( size ) < 0 )
+  if ( size == 0 )
   {
-    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "Negative or zero size %1." ).arg( size ) );
+    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "Zero size requested" ) );
     return nullptr;
   }
-  void *p = malloc( size );
-  if ( !p )
-  {
-    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "Allocation of %1 bytes failed." ).arg( size ) );
-  }
-  return p;
-}
 
-void *qgsCalloc( size_t nmemb, size_t size )
-{
-  if ( nmemb == 0 || long( nmemb ) < 0 || size == 0 || long( size ) < 0 )
+  if ( ( size >> ( 8 * sizeof( size ) - 1 ) ) != 0 )
   {
-    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "Negative or zero nmemb %1 or size %2." ).arg( nmemb ).arg( size ) );
+    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "qgsMalloc - bad size requested: %1" ).arg( size ) );
     return nullptr;
   }
-  void *p = qgsMalloc( nmemb * size );
-  if ( p )
+
+  void *p = malloc( size );
+  if ( !p )
   {
-    memset( p, 0, nmemb * size );
+    QgsDebugMsg( QStringLiteral( "Allocation of %1 bytes failed." ).arg( size ) );
   }
   return p;
 }
diff --git a/src/core/qgis.h b/src/core/qgis.h
index 1405e02fc85e..9db739f5827d 100644
--- a/src/core/qgis.h
+++ b/src/core/qgis.h
@@ -1578,15 +1578,6 @@ CORE_EXPORT QString qgsVsiPrefix( const QString &path );
  */
 void CORE_EXPORT *qgsMalloc( size_t size ) SIP_SKIP;
 
-/**
- * Allocates  memory for an array of nmemb elements of size bytes each and returns
- * a pointer to the allocated memory. Works like C calloc() but prints debug message
- * by QgsLogger if allocation fails.
- * \param nmemb number of elements
- * \param size size of element in bytes
- */
-void CORE_EXPORT *qgsCalloc( size_t nmemb, size_t size ) SIP_SKIP;
-
 /**
  * Frees the memory space  pointed  to  by  ptr. Works like C free().
  * \param ptr pointer to memory space