diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index adfa14b..34f7265 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -44,16 +44,6 @@ char *string_replace_at(char *buf, int pos, int len, const char *repl)
         return tmp;
 }
 
-char *string_replace(const char *needle, const char *replacement, char *haystack)
-{
-        char *start;
-        start = strstr(haystack, needle);
-        if (!start)
-                return haystack;
-
-        return string_replace_at(haystack, (start - haystack), strlen(needle), replacement);
-}
-
 char *string_replace_all(const char *needle, const char *replacement, char *haystack)
 {
         char *start;
@@ -134,7 +124,7 @@ char *string_to_path(char *string)
         if (string && STRN_EQ(string, "~/", 2)) {
                 char *home = g_strconcat(getenv("HOME"), "/", NULL);
 
-                string = string_replace("~/", home, string);
+                string = string_replace_at(string, 0, 2, home);
 
                 g_free(home);
         }
diff --git a/src/utils.h b/src/utils.h
index 6ea3b4e..1e9cd4d 100644
--- a/src/utils.h
+++ b/src/utils.h
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ char *string_replace_all(const char *needle, const char *replacement, char *hays
 /* replace <len> characters with <repl> at position <pos> of the string <buf> */
 char *string_replace_at(char *buf, int pos, int len, const char *repl);
 
-/* replace needle with replacement in haystack */
-char *string_replace(const char *needle, const char *replacement, char *haystack);
-
 char *string_append(char *a, const char *b, const char *sep);
 
 /* strip content between two delimiter characters (inplace) */
diff --git a/test/utils.c b/test/utils.c
index b99af9e..f59e00f 100644
--- a/test/utils.c
+++ b/test/utils.c
@@ -48,28 +48,6 @@ TEST test_string_replace_all(void)
         PASS();
 }
 
-TEST test_string_replace(void)
-{
-        char *text = malloc(128 * sizeof(char));
-        strcpy(text, "aaaaa");
-        ASSERT_STR_EQ("baaaa", (text = string_replace("a", "b", text)) );
-
-        strcpy(text, "");
-        ASSERT_STR_EQ((text = string_replace("a", "b", text)), "");
-
-        strcpy(text, "Nothing to replace");
-        ASSERT_STR_EQ((text = string_replace("z", "a", text)), "Nothing to replace");
-
-        strcpy(text, "Reverse this");
-        ASSERT_STR_EQ("Reverse sith", (text = string_replace("this", "sith", text)));
-
-        strcpy(text, "abcdabc");
-        ASSERT_STR_EQ("xyzabcdabc", (text = string_replace("a", "xyza", text)));
-
-        free(text);
-        PASS();
-}
-
 TEST test_string_append(void)
 {
         char *exp;
@@ -202,7 +180,6 @@ SUITE(suite_utils)
 {
         RUN_TEST(test_string_replace_char);
         RUN_TEST(test_string_replace_all);
-        RUN_TEST(test_string_replace);
         RUN_TEST(test_string_append);
         RUN_TEST(test_string_strip_quotes);
         RUN_TEST(test_string_strip_delimited);