diff --git a/xmllint.c b/xmllint.c
index 1423fc7a81896c3b1804b53d9e90abd6f86badc3_eG1sbGludC5j..018ef36f7e2e5e595914bca403ecf6e27901bd33_eG1sbGludC5j 100644
--- a/xmllint.c
+++ b/xmllint.c
@@ -3478,13 +3478,6 @@
     }
 #endif
 
-#ifdef LIBXML_SAX1_ENABLED
-    if (sax1)
-        xmlSAXDefaultVersion(1);
-    else
-        xmlSAXDefaultVersion(2);
-#endif /* LIBXML_SAX1_ENABLED */
-
     if (chkregister) {
 	xmlRegisterNodeDefault(registerNode);
 	xmlDeregisterNodeDefault(deregisterNode);