diff --git a/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h b/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
index 5021290bf..212637dab 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/utils/json.h
@@ -212,111 +212,6 @@ SPA_API_JSON_UTILS int spa_json_str_array_uint32(const char *arr, size_t arr_len
 	spa_json_make_str_array_unpack(32,uint32_t, atoi);
 }
 
-/* convenience */
-
-#define _SPA_STR_APPEND(str, len, idx, value )		\
-{							\
-	if ((idx) >= (len))				\
-		return -1;				\
-	(str)[(idx)++] = (value);			\
-}
-
-static int _spa_json_str_object_reduce(struct spa_json *json, char *out, size_t out_size, const char *value, size_t len)
-{
-	struct spa_json sub;
-	size_t idx = 0;
-	int count = 0, res;
-
-	if (spa_json_is_object(value, len)) {
-		char key[1024];
-
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '{');
-
-		spa_json_enter(json, &sub);
-		while ((len = spa_json_object_next(&sub, key, sizeof(key), &value)) > 0) {
-			_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '"');
-			if (idx + strlen(key) >= out_size)
-				return -1;
-			strcpy(&out[idx], key);
-			idx += strlen(key);
-			_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '"');
-			_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, ':');
-
-			res = _spa_json_str_object_reduce(&sub, &out[idx], out_size - idx, value, len);
-			if (res < 0)
-				return res;
-
-			idx += res;
-			_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, ',');
-			count++;
-		}
-
-		/* Remove trailing comma */
-		if (count)
-			idx--;
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '}');
-	} else if (spa_json_is_array(value, len)) {
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '[');
-
-		spa_json_enter(json, &sub);
-		while ((len = spa_json_next(&sub, &value)) > 0) {
-			res = _spa_json_str_object_reduce(&sub, &out[idx], out_size - idx, value, len);
-			if (res < 0)
-				return res;
-
-			idx += res;
-			_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, ',');
-			count++;
-		}
-
-		/* Remove trailing comma */
-		if (count)
-			idx--;
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, ']');
-	} else if (spa_json_is_string(value, len) ||
-	    spa_json_is_null(value, len) ||
-	    spa_json_is_bool(value, len) ||
-	    spa_json_is_int(value, len) ||
-	    spa_json_is_float(value, len)) {
-		/* Object type we understand */
-		if (len >= out_size)
-			return -1;
-		strcpy(out, value);
-		idx += len;
-	} else {
-		/* Naked value, treat as string */
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '"');
-		if (idx + len >= out_size)
-			return -1;
-		strncpy(&out[idx], value, len);
-		idx += len;
-		_SPA_STR_APPEND(out, out_size, idx, '"');
-	}
-
-	return idx;
-}
-
-/* Parse a JSON object string and strip all whitespaces */
-SPA_API_JSON_UTILS int spa_json_str_object_reduce_inplace(char *str)
-{
-	struct spa_json json;
-	size_t size = strlen(str) + 1, len;
-	char temp[size];
-	const char *value;
-	int res;
-
-	len = spa_json_begin(&json, str, size, &value);
-
-	res = _spa_json_str_object_reduce(&json, temp, size, value, len);
-	if (res < 0)
-		return res;
-	temp[res] = '\0';
-
-	strncpy(str, temp, size);
-
-	return res;
-}
-
 /**
  * \}
  */
diff --git a/spa/plugins/audioconvert/audioconvert.c b/spa/plugins/audioconvert/audioconvert.c
index 5a4153770..da5396f61 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/audioconvert/audioconvert.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/audioconvert/audioconvert.c
@@ -1442,7 +1442,6 @@ static int load_filter_graph(struct impl *impl, const char *graph, int order)
 		insert_graph(&impl->active_graphs, pending);
 
 		impl->graph_descs[order] = strdup(graph);
-		spa_json_str_object_reduce_inplace(impl->graph_descs[order]);
 
 		spa_log_info(impl->log, "loading filter-graph order:%d", order);
 	}