diff --git a/libavformat/avformat.h b/libavformat/avformat.h
index 1bd2c49c10c088b34174944282e89242681a686b..7420dabc376ce61dfa9c70871bd064e145067d55 100644
--- a/libavformat/avformat.h
+++ b/libavformat/avformat.h
@@ -851,9 +851,6 @@ typedef struct AVFormatContext {
 #endif
 
     unsigned int packet_size;
-#if FF_API_PRELOAD
-    attribute_deprecated int preload;
-#endif
     int max_delay;
 
     int flags;
diff --git a/libavformat/mpegenc.c b/libavformat/mpegenc.c
index 9416f03129612df8efac48c63ac35f9a86088490..852b3f13c97f434c14d62af0692e8c111a2e8aed 100644
--- a/libavformat/mpegenc.c
+++ b/libavformat/mpegenc.c
@@ -1158,10 +1158,6 @@ static int mpeg_mux_write_packet(AVFormatContext *ctx, AVPacket *pkt)
     int preload;
     const int is_iframe = st->codec->codec_type == AVMEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO && (pkt->flags & AV_PKT_FLAG_KEY);
 
-#if FF_API_PRELOAD
-    if (ctx->preload)
-        s->preload = ctx->preload;
-#endif
     preload = av_rescale(s->preload, 90000, AV_TIME_BASE);
 
     pts= pkt->pts;
diff --git a/libavformat/version.h b/libavformat/version.h
index a54a075624d622b0b6dcfe0e45e3c71fad35444f..36f43665314d55459fd325aa4a006fde30b69c11 100644
--- a/libavformat/version.h
+++ b/libavformat/version.h
@@ -47,9 +47,6 @@
  * Those FF_API_* defines are not part of public API.
  * They may change, break or disappear at any time.
  */
-#ifndef FF_API_PRELOAD
-#define FF_API_PRELOAD                 (LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR < 54)
-#endif
 #ifndef FF_API_STREAM_COPY
 #define FF_API_STREAM_COPY             (LIBAVFORMAT_VERSION_MAJOR < 54)
 #endif