diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceReleasable.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceReleasable.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 5e61834cec..0000000000
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceReleasable.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2012 The Netty Project
- *
- * The Netty Project licenses this file to you under the Apache License,
- * version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
- *
- *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
- * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
- * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package io.netty.util;
-
-/**
- * A common interface for a class which depends on external resources that
- * need explicit release or shutdown.
- * @apiviz.landmark
- */
-public interface ExternalResourceReleasable {
-
-    /**
-     * Releases the external resources that this object depends on.  You should
-     * not call this method if the external resources (e.g. thread pool) are
-     * in use by other objects.
-     */
-    void releaseExternalResources();
-}
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceUtil.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceUtil.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 59dae4d665..0000000000
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/ExternalResourceUtil.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2012 The Netty Project
- *
- * The Netty Project licenses this file to you under the Apache License,
- * version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
- * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
- *
- *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
- * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
- * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package io.netty.util;
-
-/**
- * A utility class that provides the convenient shutdown of
- * {@link ExternalResourceReleasable}s.
- */
-public final class ExternalResourceUtil {
-
-    /**
-     * Releases the specified {@link ExternalResourceReleasable}s.
-     */
-    public static void release(ExternalResourceReleasable... releasables) {
-        ExternalResourceReleasable[] releasablesCopy =
-            new ExternalResourceReleasable[releasables.length];
-
-        for (int i = 0; i < releasables.length; i ++) {
-            if (releasables[i] == null) {
-                throw new NullPointerException("releasables[" + i + "]");
-            }
-            releasablesCopy[i] = releasables[i];
-        }
-
-        for (ExternalResourceReleasable e: releasablesCopy) {
-            e.releaseExternalResources();
-        }
-    }
-
-    private ExternalResourceUtil() {
-    }
-}