diff --git a/fortran/lammps.f90 b/fortran/lammps.f90
index ba2e376b77..6511673c66 100644
--- a/fortran/lammps.f90
+++ b/fortran/lammps.f90
@@ -54,12 +54,11 @@ MODULE LIBLAMMPS
 
   ! interface definitions for calling functions in library.cpp
   INTERFACE
-      FUNCTION lammps_open(argc,argv,comm,handle) &
+      FUNCTION lammps_open(argc,argv,comm) &
           BIND(C, name='lammps_open_fortran')
         IMPORT :: c_ptr, c_int
         INTEGER(c_int), VALUE, INTENT(in)     :: argc, comm
         TYPE(c_ptr), DIMENSION(*), INTENT(in) :: argv
-        TYPE(c_ptr), INTENT(out)              :: handle
         TYPE(c_ptr)                           :: lammps_open
       END FUNCTION lammps_open
 
@@ -161,7 +160,7 @@ CONTAINS
     ENDIF
 
     IF (PRESENT(comm)) THEN
-        lmp_open%handle = lammps_open(argc,argv,comm,dummy)
+        lmp_open%handle = lammps_open(argc,argv,comm)
     ELSE
         lmp_open%handle = lammps_open_no_mpi(argc,argv,dummy)
     END IF
diff --git a/src/library.cpp b/src/library.cpp
index 846df4ef5a..b306a953bd 100644
--- a/src/library.cpp
+++ b/src/library.cpp
@@ -205,20 +205,20 @@ module.  Internally it converts the *f_comm* argument into a C-style MPI
 communicator with ``MPI_Comm_f2c()`` and then calls
 :cpp:func:`lammps_open`.
 
+.. versionadded:: 15Sep2020
+
 \endverbatim
  *
  * \param  argc   number of command line arguments
  * \param  argv   list of command line argument strings
  * \param  f_comm Fortran style MPI communicator for this LAMMPS instance
- * \param  ptr    pointer to a void pointer variable
- *                which serves as a handle; may be ``NULL``
  * \return        pointer to new LAMMPS instance cast to ``void *`` */
 
-void *lammps_open_fortran(int argc, char **argv, int f_comm, void **ptr)
+void *lammps_open_fortran(int argc, char **argv, int f_comm)
 {
   lammps_mpi_init();
   MPI_Comm c_comm = MPI_Comm_f2c((MPI_Fint)f_comm);
-  return lammps_open(argc, argv, c_comm, ptr);
+  return lammps_open(argc, argv, c_comm, nullptr);
 }
 
 /* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- */
diff --git a/src/library.h b/src/library.h
index 63167c1fbd..0ffd111d7b 100644
--- a/src/library.h
+++ b/src/library.h
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ extern "C" {
 void *lammps_open(int argc, char **argv, MPI_Comm comm, void **ptr);
 #endif
 void *lammps_open_no_mpi(int argc, char **argv, void **ptr);
-void *lammps_open_fortran(int argc, char **argv, int f_comm, void **ptr);
+void *lammps_open_fortran(int argc, char **argv, int f_comm);
 void  lammps_close(void *handle);
 void  lammps_mpi_init();
 void  lammps_mpi_finalize();