diff --git a/fairmq/FairMQDevice.cxx b/fairmq/FairMQDevice.cxx
index af27cdbf..17498e4f 100644
--- a/fairmq/FairMQDevice.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/FairMQDevice.cxx
@@ -482,32 +482,6 @@ void FairMQDevice::InitTaskWrapper()
     ChangeState(Transition::Auto);
 }
 
-bool FairMQDevice::SortSocketsByAddress(const FairMQChannel &lhs, const FairMQChannel &rhs)
-{
-    return lhs.fAddress < rhs.fAddress;
-}
-
-void FairMQDevice::SortChannel(const string& name, const bool reindex)
-{
-    if (fChannels.find(name) != fChannels.end())
-    {
-        sort(fChannels.at(name).begin(), fChannels.at(name).end(), SortSocketsByAddress);
-
-        if (reindex)
-        {
-            for (auto vi = fChannels.at(name).begin(); vi != fChannels.at(name).end(); ++vi)
-            {
-                // set channel name: name + vector index
-                vi->fName = tools::ToString(name, "[", vi - fChannels.at(name).begin(), "]");
-            }
-        }
-    }
-    else
-    {
-        LOG(error) << "Sorting failed: no channel with the name \"" << name << "\".";
-    }
-}
-
 void FairMQDevice::RunWrapper()
 {
     LOG(info) << "DEVICE: Running...";
diff --git a/fairmq/FairMQDevice.h b/fairmq/FairMQDevice.h
index cfb08d2d..0d82e9ef 100644
--- a/fairmq/FairMQDevice.h
+++ b/fairmq/FairMQDevice.h
@@ -115,11 +115,6 @@ class FairMQDevice
     /// Outputs the socket transfer rates
     virtual void LogSocketRates();
 
-    /// Sorts a channel by address, with optional reindexing of the sorted values
-    /// @param name    Channel name
-    /// @param reindex Should reindexing be done
-    void SortChannel(const std::string& name, const bool reindex = true);
-
     template<typename Serializer, typename DataType, typename... Args>
     void Serialize(FairMQMessage& msg, DataType&& data, Args&&... args) const
     {
@@ -312,11 +307,6 @@ class FairMQDevice
         return fConfig;
     }
 
-    /// Implements the sort algorithm used in SortChannel()
-    /// @param lhs Right hand side value for comparison
-    /// @param rhs Left hand side value for comparison
-    static bool SortSocketsByAddress(const FairMQChannel &lhs, const FairMQChannel &rhs);
-
     // overload to easily bind member functions
     template<typename T>
     void OnData(const std::string& channelName, bool (T::* memberFunction)(FairMQMessagePtr& msg, int index))