diff --git a/nav2_smac_planner/include/nav2_smac_planner/a_star.hpp b/nav2_smac_planner/include/nav2_smac_planner/a_star.hpp
index 56e5bbccaf..64c905d01c 100644
--- a/nav2_smac_planner/include/nav2_smac_planner/a_star.hpp
+++ b/nav2_smac_planner/include/nav2_smac_planner/a_star.hpp
@@ -250,12 +250,6 @@ class AStarAlgorithm
   inline void populateExpansionsLog(
     const NodePtr & node, std::vector<std::tuple<float, float, float>> * expansions_log);
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Clear Start
-   */
-  void clearStart();
-
-
   bool _traverse_unknown;
   int _max_iterations;
   int _max_on_approach_iterations;
diff --git a/nav2_smac_planner/src/a_star.cpp b/nav2_smac_planner/src/a_star.cpp
index 8c8ec7197f..a3cfbb4b4f 100644
--- a/nav2_smac_planner/src/a_star.cpp
+++ b/nav2_smac_planner/src/a_star.cpp
@@ -250,8 +250,6 @@ bool AStarAlgorithm<NodeT>::areInputsValid()
   }
 
   // Note: We do not check the if the start is valid because it is cleared
-  clearStart();
-
   return true;
 }
 
@@ -484,20 +482,6 @@ unsigned int & AStarAlgorithm<NodeT>::getSizeDim3()
   return _dim3_size;
 }
 
-template<>
-void AStarAlgorithm<Node2D>::clearStart()
-{
-  auto coords = Node2D::getCoords(_start->getIndex());
-  _costmap->setCost(coords.x, coords.y, nav2_costmap_2d::FREE_SPACE);
-}
-
-template<typename NodeT>
-void AStarAlgorithm<NodeT>::clearStart()
-{
-  auto coords = NodeT::getCoords(_start->getIndex(), _costmap->getSizeInCellsX(), getSizeDim3());
-  _costmap->setCost(coords.x, coords.y, nav2_costmap_2d::FREE_SPACE);
-}
-
 // Instantiate algorithm for the supported template types
 template class AStarAlgorithm<Node2D>;
 template class AStarAlgorithm<NodeHybrid>;