diff --git a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.cc b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.cc
index ec1d29dbbe3..793e81b4a0f 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.cc
+++ b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.cc
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ void PRINTFLIKE(3, 4)
 VkResult
 __vk_startup_errorf(struct tu_instance *instance,
                     VkResult error,
-                    bool always_print,
                     const char *file,
                     int line,
                     const char *format,
@@ -90,11 +89,6 @@ __vk_startup_errorf(struct tu_instance *instance,
 
    const char *error_str = vk_Result_to_str(error);
 
-#ifndef DEBUG
-   if (!always_print)
-      return error;
-#endif
-
    if (format) {
       va_start(ap, format);
       vsnprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), format, ap);
diff --git a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.h b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.h
index 80ccd698a36..833b6422ba2 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.h
+++ b/src/freedreno/vulkan/tu_util.h
@@ -67,18 +67,16 @@ tu_env_init(void);
 VkResult
 __vk_startup_errorf(struct tu_instance *instance,
                     VkResult error,
-                    bool force_print,
                     const char *file,
                     int line,
                     const char *format,
-                    ...) PRINTFLIKE(6, 7);
+                    ...) PRINTFLIKE(5, 6);
 
 /* Prints startup errors if TU_DEBUG=startup is set or on a debug driver
  * build.
  */
 #define vk_startup_errorf(instance, error, format, ...) \
    __vk_startup_errorf(instance, error, \
-                       TU_DEBUG(STARTUP), \
                        __FILE__, __LINE__, format, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 
 void