diff --git a/Lib/sre_compile.py b/Lib/sre_compile.py
index 65d2ccf016f..2a0c745a5d3 100644
--- a/Lib/sre_compile.py
+++ b/Lib/sre_compile.py
@@ -24,12 +24,6 @@ else:
 def _identityfunction(x):
     return x
 
-def set(seq):
-    s = {}
-    for elem in seq:
-        s[elem] = 1
-    return s
-
 _LITERAL_CODES = set([LITERAL, NOT_LITERAL])
 _REPEATING_CODES = set([REPEAT, MIN_REPEAT, MAX_REPEAT])
 _SUCCESS_CODES = set([SUCCESS, FAILURE])
diff --git a/Lib/sre_parse.py b/Lib/sre_parse.py
index 47810193d16..182d1eb44f8 100644
--- a/Lib/sre_parse.py
+++ b/Lib/sre_parse.py
@@ -16,12 +16,6 @@ import sys
 
 from sre_constants import *
 
-def set(seq):
-    s = {}
-    for elem in seq:
-        s[elem] = 1
-    return s
-
 SPECIAL_CHARS = ".\\[{()*+?^$|"
 REPEAT_CHARS = "*+?{"