diff --git a/render/html.c b/render/html.c
index cdd78e7d4..e7d2c4865 100644
--- a/render/html.c
+++ b/render/html.c
@@ -165,7 +165,6 @@ static void html_box_convert_done(html_content *c, bool success)
 		content_set_done(&c->base);
 	}
 
-	html_set_status(c, "");
 	dom_node_unref(html);
 }
 
@@ -1350,7 +1349,6 @@ static void html_stop(struct content *c)
 		/* If there are no further active fetches and we're still
  		 * in the READY state, transition to the DONE state. */
 		if (c->status == CONTENT_STATUS_READY && c->active == 0) {
-			html_set_status(htmlc, "");
 			content_set_done(c);
 		}
 
@@ -1606,15 +1604,6 @@ static nserror html_clone(const struct content *old, struct content **newc)
 	return true;
 }
 
-/**
- * Set the content status.
- */
-
-void html_set_status(html_content *c, const char *extra)
-{
-	content_set_status(&c->base, extra);
-}
-
 
 /**
  * Handle a window containing a CONTENT_HTML being opened.
diff --git a/render/html_css.c b/render/html_css.c
index 91a1e64dc..a90ea6323 100644
--- a/render/html_css.c
+++ b/render/html_css.c
@@ -115,20 +115,6 @@ html_convert_css_callback(hlcache_handle *css,
 		content_add_error(&parent->base, "?", 0);
 		break;
 
-	case CONTENT_MSG_STATUS:
-		if (event->data.explicit_status_text == NULL) {
-			/* Object content's status text updated */
-			html_set_status(parent,
-					content_get_status_message(css));
-			content_broadcast(&parent->base, CONTENT_MSG_STATUS,
-					event->data);
-		} else {
-			/* Object content wants to set explicit message */
-			content_broadcast(&parent->base, CONTENT_MSG_STATUS,
-					event->data);
-		}
-		break;
-
 	case CONTENT_MSG_POINTER:
 		/* Really don't want this to continue after the switch */
 		return NSERROR_OK;
diff --git a/render/html_internal.h b/render/html_internal.h
index aaecb7823..419fe41b3 100644
--- a/render/html_internal.h
+++ b/render/html_internal.h
@@ -182,8 +182,6 @@ typedef struct html_content {
 /** Render padding and margin box outlines in html_redraw(). */
 extern bool html_redraw_debug;
 
-void html_set_status(html_content *c, const char *extra);
-
 void html__redraw_a_box(html_content *html, struct box *box);
 
 /**
diff --git a/render/html_object.c b/render/html_object.c
index 335abd1fc..ce0f21f40 100644
--- a/render/html_object.c
+++ b/render/html_object.c
@@ -195,21 +195,6 @@ html_object_callback(hlcache_handle *object,
 		}
 		break;
 
-	case CONTENT_MSG_STATUS:
-		if (event->data.explicit_status_text == NULL) {
-			/* Object content's status text updated */
-			union content_msg_data data;
-			data.explicit_status_text =
-					content_get_status_message(object);
-			html_set_status(c, data.explicit_status_text);
-			content_broadcast(&c->base, CONTENT_MSG_STATUS, data);
-		} else {
-			/* Object content wants to set explicit message */
-			content_broadcast(&c->base, CONTENT_MSG_STATUS,
-					event->data);
-		}
-		break;
-
 	case CONTENT_MSG_REDRAW:
 		if (c->base.status != CONTENT_STATUS_LOADING) {
 			union content_msg_data data = event->data;
@@ -455,7 +440,6 @@ html_object_callback(hlcache_handle *object,
 		/* all objects have arrived */
 		content__reformat(&c->base, false, c->base.available_width,
 				c->base.height);
-		html_set_status(c, "");
 		content_set_done(&c->base);
 	}