diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index 14437e2f0..b7397da1a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -402,8 +402,6 @@ void assertLibStoreInitialized() {
 
 void initLibStore() {
 
-    initLibUtil();
-
     if (sodium_init() == -1)
         throw Error("could not initialise libsodium");
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/error.cc b/src/libutil/error.cc
index d30da58c0..b534ff87e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/error.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/error.cc
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@ void BaseError::addTrace(std::shared_ptr<Pos> && e, HintFmt hint)
     err.traces.push_front(Trace { .pos = std::move(e), .hint = hint });
 }
 
-void throwExceptionSelfCheck(){
-    // This is meant to be caught in initLibUtil()
-    throw SysError("C++ exception handling is broken. This would appear to be a problem with the way Nix was compiled and/or linked and/or loaded.");
-}
-
 // c++ std::exception descendants must have a 'const char* what()' function.
 // This stringifies the error and caches it for use by what(), or similarly by msg().
 const std::string & BaseError::calcWhat() const
diff --git a/src/libutil/error.hh b/src/libutil/error.hh
index 9cb3a624d..924366580 100644
--- a/src/libutil/error.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/error.hh
@@ -200,8 +200,4 @@ public:
     }
 };
 
-/** Throw an exception for the purpose of checking that exception handling works; see 'initLibUtil()'.
- */
-void throwExceptionSelfCheck();
-
 }
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index a7a5ad039..645b1ef01 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -52,26 +52,6 @@ extern char * * environ __attribute__((weak));
 
 namespace nix {
 
-void initLibUtil() {
-    // Check that exception handling works. Exception handling has been observed
-    // not to work on darwin when the linker flags aren't quite right.
-    // In this case we don't want to expose the user to some unrelated uncaught
-    // exception, but rather tell them exactly that exception handling is
-    // broken.
-    // When exception handling fails, the message tends to be printed by the
-    // C++ runtime, followed by an abort.
-    // For example on macOS we might see an error such as
-    // libc++abi: terminating with uncaught exception of type nix::SysError: error: C++ exception handling is broken. This would appear to be a problem with the way Nix was compiled and/or linked and/or loaded.
-    bool caught = false;
-    try {
-        throwExceptionSelfCheck();
-    } catch (const nix::Error & _e) {
-        caught = true;
-    }
-    // This is not actually the main point of this check, but let's make sure anyway:
-    assert(caught);
-}
-
 std::optional<std::string> getEnv(const std::string & key)
 {
     char * value = getenv(key.c_str());
diff --git a/src/libutil/util.hh b/src/libutil/util.hh
index d47d7e0be..860ddae06 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/util.hh
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@ namespace nix {
 struct Sink;
 struct Source;
 
-void initLibUtil();
-
 /**
  * The system for which Nix is compiled.
  */