diff --git a/doc/public/cairo-sections.txt b/doc/public/cairo-sections.txt
index fba168302..d3b7319f6 100644
--- a/doc/public/cairo-sections.txt
+++ b/doc/public/cairo-sections.txt
@@ -408,7 +408,6 @@ cairo_set_scaled_font
 cairo_get_scaled_font
 cairo_show_text
 cairo_show_glyphs
-cairo_has_show_text_glyphs
 cairo_show_text_glyphs
 cairo_font_extents
 cairo_text_extents
diff --git a/doc/public/tmpl/cairo-text.sgml b/doc/public/tmpl/cairo-text.sgml
index 64c63dae1..24e264b0e 100644
--- a/doc/public/tmpl/cairo-text.sgml
+++ b/doc/public/tmpl/cairo-text.sgml
@@ -197,15 +197,6 @@ Cairo has two sets of text rendering capabilities:
 @num_glyphs: 
 
 
-<!-- ##### FUNCTION cairo_has_show_text_glyphs ##### -->
-<para>
-
-</para>
-
-@cr: 
-@Returns: 
-
-
 <!-- ##### FUNCTION cairo_show_text_glyphs ##### -->
 <para>
 
diff --git a/src/cairo-gstate.c b/src/cairo-gstate.c
index b4fb5a432..1034d4214 100644
--- a/src/cairo-gstate.c
+++ b/src/cairo-gstate.c
@@ -1536,12 +1536,6 @@ _cairo_gstate_glyph_extents (cairo_gstate_t *gstate,
     return cairo_scaled_font_status (gstate->scaled_font);
 }
 
-cairo_bool_t
-_cairo_gstate_has_show_text_glyphs (cairo_gstate_t *gstate)
-{
-    return cairo_surface_has_show_text_glyphs (gstate->target);
-}
-
 cairo_status_t
 _cairo_gstate_show_text_glyphs (cairo_gstate_t		   *gstate,
 				const char		   *utf8,
@@ -1600,7 +1594,7 @@ _cairo_gstate_show_text_glyphs (cairo_gstate_t		   *gstate,
      * fast rasterizer in cairo, we may want to readjust this.
      *
      * Needless to say, do this only if show_text_glyphs is not available. */
-    if (_cairo_gstate_has_show_text_glyphs (gstate) ||
+    if (cairo_surface_has_show_text_glyphs (gstate->target) ||
 	_cairo_scaled_font_get_max_scale (gstate->scaled_font) <= 10240) {
 	status = _cairo_surface_show_text_glyphs (gstate->target,
 						  gstate->op,
diff --git a/src/cairo.c b/src/cairo.c
index cdfefa023..9bb2b663d 100644
--- a/src/cairo.c
+++ b/src/cairo.c
@@ -3079,6 +3079,7 @@ cairo_show_text (cairo_t *cr, const char *utf8)
     int utf8_len, num_glyphs, num_clusters;
     cairo_text_cluster_flags_t cluster_flags;
     double x, y;
+    cairo_bool_t has_show_text_glyphs;
 
     if (cr->status)
 	return;
@@ -3090,11 +3091,14 @@ cairo_show_text (cairo_t *cr, const char *utf8)
 
     utf8_len = strlen (utf8);
 
+    has_show_text_glyphs =
+	cairo_surface_has_show_text_glyphs (cairo_get_target (cr));
+
     status = _cairo_gstate_text_to_glyphs (cr->gstate,
 					   x, y,
 					   utf8, utf8_len,
 					   &glyphs, &num_glyphs,
-					   cairo_has_show_text_glyphs (cr) ? &clusters : NULL, &num_clusters,
+					   has_show_text_glyphs ? &clusters : NULL, &num_clusters,
 					   &cluster_flags);
     if (status)
 	goto BAIL;
@@ -3169,36 +3173,6 @@ cairo_show_glyphs (cairo_t *cr, const cairo_glyph_t *glyphs, int num_glyphs)
 	_cairo_set_error (cr, status);
 }
 
-/**
- * cairo_has_show_text_glyphs:
- * @cr: a cairo context
- *
- * Returns whether the target surface of a cairo context supports
- * sophisticated cairo_show_text_glyphs() operations.  That is,
- * whether it actually uses the provided text and cluster data
- * to a cairo_show_text_glyphs() call.
- *
- * Note: Even if this function returns %FALSE, a
- * cairo_show_text_glyphs() operation will still succeed.  It just will
- * act like a cairo_show_glyphs() operation.  Users can use this
- * function to avoid computing UTF-8 text and cluster mapping if the
- * target surface does not use it.
- *
- * This is a convenience function that simply calls
- * cairo_surface_has_show_text_glyphs() on @cr's target.
- *
- * Return value: %TRUE if the target surface of @cr supports
- *               cairo_show_text_glyphs(), %FALSE otherwise
- *
- * Since: 1.8
- **/
-cairo_bool_t
-cairo_has_show_text_glyphs (cairo_t			   *cr)
-{
-    return _cairo_gstate_has_show_text_glyphs (cr->gstate);
-}
-slim_hidden_def (cairo_has_show_text_glyphs);
-
 /**
  * cairo_show_text_glyphs:
  * @cr: a cairo context
diff --git a/src/cairo.h b/src/cairo.h
index 8abf359ee..8b5044a6f 100644
--- a/src/cairo.h
+++ b/src/cairo.h
@@ -1209,9 +1209,6 @@ cairo_show_text (cairo_t *cr, const char *utf8);
 cairo_public void
 cairo_show_glyphs (cairo_t *cr, const cairo_glyph_t *glyphs, int num_glyphs);
 
-cairo_public cairo_bool_t
-cairo_has_show_text_glyphs (cairo_t *cr);
-
 cairo_public void
 cairo_show_text_glyphs (cairo_t			   *cr,
 			const char		   *utf8,
diff --git a/src/cairoint.h b/src/cairoint.h
index 85aa47c52..51d467405 100644
--- a/src/cairoint.h
+++ b/src/cairoint.h
@@ -1238,9 +1238,6 @@ _cairo_gstate_glyph_extents (cairo_gstate_t *gstate,
 			     int num_glyphs,
 			     cairo_text_extents_t *extents);
 
-cairo_private cairo_bool_t
-_cairo_gstate_has_show_text_glyphs (cairo_gstate_t *gstate);
-
 cairo_private cairo_status_t
 _cairo_gstate_show_text_glyphs (cairo_gstate_t		   *gstate,
 				const char		   *utf8,
@@ -2389,7 +2386,6 @@ slim_hidden_proto (cairo_get_current_point);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_get_matrix);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_get_target);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_get_tolerance);
-slim_hidden_proto (cairo_has_show_text_glyphs);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_glyph_allocate);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_glyph_free);
 slim_hidden_proto (cairo_image_surface_create);