diff --git a/core/variant/variant.cpp b/core/variant/variant.cpp
index c1ef31c784d..24b30112bd7 100644
--- a/core/variant/variant.cpp
+++ b/core/variant/variant.cpp
@@ -1072,13 +1072,6 @@ bool Variant::is_null() const {
 	}
 }
 
-bool Variant::initialize_ref(Object *p_object) {
-	RefCounted *ref_counted = const_cast<RefCounted *>(static_cast<const RefCounted *>(p_object));
-	if (!ref_counted->init_ref()) {
-		return false;
-	}
-	return true;
-}
 void Variant::reference(const Variant &p_variant) {
 	switch (type) {
 		case NIL:
diff --git a/core/variant/variant.h b/core/variant/variant.h
index 1cb3580c010..d4e4b330cdc 100644
--- a/core/variant/variant.h
+++ b/core/variant/variant.h
@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@ private:
 	} _data alignas(8);
 
 	void reference(const Variant &p_variant);
-	static bool initialize_ref(Object *p_object);
 
 	void _clear_internal();
 
diff --git a/core/variant/variant_internal.h b/core/variant/variant_internal.h
index c52ab6917b2..58a45c0a1f3 100644
--- a/core/variant/variant_internal.h
+++ b/core/variant/variant_internal.h
@@ -125,10 +125,6 @@ public:
 		}
 	}
 
-	_FORCE_INLINE_ static bool initialize_ref(Object *object) {
-		return Variant::initialize_ref(object);
-	}
-
 	// Atomic types.
 	_FORCE_INLINE_ static bool *get_bool(Variant *v) { return &v->_data._bool; }
 	_FORCE_INLINE_ static const bool *get_bool(const Variant *v) { return &v->_data._bool; }