diff --git a/segpy/portability.py b/segpy/portability.py
index d38467f..b6df325 100644
--- a/segpy/portability.py
+++ b/segpy/portability.py
@@ -4,12 +4,6 @@ import sys
 EMPTY_BYTE_STRING = b'' if sys.version_info >= (3, 0) else ''
 
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
-    long_int = int
-else:
-    long_int = long
-
-
 if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
     def byte_string(integers):
         return bytes(integers)