diff --git a/pkg/install/service.go b/pkg/install/service.go
index 7ff58b9241a0..42c4cf13e5ca 100644
--- a/pkg/install/service.go
+++ b/pkg/install/service.go
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ package install
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kardianos/service"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -159,16 +158,3 @@ func GetServiceConfig(role string) *service.Config {
 		Description: k0sDescription,
 	}
 }
-
-func prepareEnvVars(envVars []string) map[string]string {
-	result := make(map[string]string)
-	for _, envVar := range envVars {
-		parts := strings.SplitN(envVar, "=", 1)
-		if len(parts) != 2 {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		result[parts[0]] = parts[1]
-	}
-	return result
-}