diff --git a/src/utils.cpp b/src/utils.cpp
index 07560e9a20..af800f48b0 100644
--- a/src/utils.cpp
+++ b/src/utils.cpp
@@ -625,11 +625,6 @@ size_t utils::trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text, const std::string &s
   return utils::count_words(utils::trim_comment(text), separators);
 }
 
-size_t utils::trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text) {
-  std::string separators = " \t\r\n\f";
-  return trim_and_count_words(text, separators);
-}
-
 /* ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Convert string into words on whitespace while handling single and
    double quotes.
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index cc4dd28824..026f46955f 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -236,11 +236,7 @@ namespace LAMMPS_NS {
      * \param separators string containing characters that will be treated as whitespace
      * \return number of words found
      */
-    size_t trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text, const std::string &separators);
-
-    /** This version sets the separators argument to " \t\r\n\f" by default
-     */
-    size_t trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text);
+    size_t trim_and_count_words(const std::string &text, const std::string &separators = " \t\r\n\f");
 
     /** Take text and split into non-whitespace words.
      *