diff --git a/src/sysdep.c b/src/sysdep.c
index 307f69290d6..3fd134e476d 100644
--- a/src/sysdep.c
+++ b/src/sysdep.c
@@ -1373,16 +1373,6 @@ init_sys_modes ()
 {
   struct emacs_tty tty;
 
-#ifdef MAC_OS8
-/* cus-start.el complains if delete-exited-processes is not defined */
-#ifndef subprocesses
-  DEFVAR_BOOL ("delete-exited-processes", &delete_exited_processes,
-	       doc: /* *Non-nil means delete processes immediately when they exit.
-nil means don't delete them until `list-processes' is run.  */);
-  delete_exited_processes = 0;
-#endif
-#endif /* MAC_OS8 */
-
 #ifdef VMS
 #if 0
   static int oob_chars[2] = {0, 1 << 7}; /* catch C-g's */