diff --git a/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php b/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
index f49e2bb9cce..f2d062fd37d 100644
--- a/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
+++ b/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
@@ -37,18 +37,6 @@ if (!webservice_protocol_is_enabled('rest')) {
     die;
 }
 
-$restformat = optional_param('moodlewsrestformat', 'xml', PARAM_ALPHA);
-//remove the alt from the request
-if (isset($_REQUEST['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
-    unset($_REQUEST['moodlewsrestformat']);
-}
-if (isset($_GET['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
-    unset($_GET['moodlewsrestformat']);
-}
-if (isset($_POST['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
-    unset($_POST['moodlewsrestformat']);
-}
-
 $server = new webservice_rest_server(WEBSERVICE_AUTHMETHOD_USERNAME);
 $server->run();
 die;