diff --git a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
index 15d5f6b585c..63fa1290be2 100644
--- a/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
+++ b/libfdt/fdt_ro.c
@@ -453,20 +453,10 @@ int fdt_node_check_compatible(const void *fdt, int nodeoffset,
 int fdt_node_offset_by_compatible(const void *fdt, int startoffset,
 				  const char *compatible)
 {
-	uint32_t tag;
-	int offset, nextoffset;
-	int err;
+	int offset, err;
 
 	CHECK_HEADER(fdt);
 
-	if (startoffset >= 0) {
-		tag = fdt_next_tag(fdt, startoffset, &nextoffset);
-		if (tag != FDT_BEGIN_NODE)
-			return -FDT_ERR_BADOFFSET;
-	} else {
-		nextoffset = 0;
-	}
-
 	/* FIXME: The algorithm here is pretty horrible: we scan each
 	 * property of a node in fdt_node_check_compatible(), then if
 	 * that didn't find what we want, we scan over them again