diff --git a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientsettings.h b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientsettings.h
index ad2f01ac741..9ffc02dfdd7 100644
--- a/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientsettings.h
+++ b/src/plugins/languageclient/languageclientsettings.h
@@ -92,9 +92,6 @@ protected:
     BaseSettings(BaseSettings &&other) = default;
     BaseSettings &operator=(const BaseSettings &other) = default;
     BaseSettings &operator=(BaseSettings &&other) = default;
-
-private:
-    bool canStart(QList<const Core::IDocument *> documents) const;
 };
 
 class LANGUAGECLIENT_EXPORT StdIOSettings : public BaseSettings