diff --git a/include/net.h b/include/net.h
index b055730fc..c09868cd4 100644
--- a/include/net.h
+++ b/include/net.h
@@ -305,8 +305,6 @@ typedef enum { BOOTP, RARP, ARP, TFTP, DHCP, PING, DNS, NFS, CDP, NETCONS, SNTP
 /* from net/net.c */
 extern char	BootFile[128];			/* Boot File name		*/
 
-extern IPaddr_t	NetPingIP;			/* the ip address to ping 		*/
-
 /* when CDP completes these hold the return values */
 extern ushort CDPNativeVLAN;
 extern ushort CDPApplianceVLAN;
diff --git a/net/net.c b/net/net.c
index 57f4044ba..3ab1db166 100644
--- a/net/net.c
+++ b/net/net.c
@@ -135,12 +135,6 @@ ushort		NetOurNativeVLAN = 0xFFFF;	/* ditto			*/
 
 char		BootFile[128];		/* Boot File name			*/
 
-#ifdef CONFIG_NET_PING
-IPaddr_t	NetPingIP;		/* the ip address to ping 		*/
-
-extern void PingStart(void);
-#endif
-
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_SNTP
 IPaddr_t	NetNtpServerIP;		/* NTP server IP address		*/
 int		NetTimeOffset=0;	/* offset time from UTC			*/
@@ -790,14 +784,6 @@ static int net_check_prereq (proto_t protocol)
 
 	switch (protocol) {
 		/* Fall through */
-#ifdef CONFIG_NET_PING
-	case PING:
-		if (NetPingIP == 0) {
-			puts ("*** ERROR: ping address not given\n");
-			return -1;
-		}
-		goto common;
-#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_NET_SNTP
 	case SNTP:
 		if (NetNtpServerIP == 0) {
diff --git a/net/ping.c b/net/ping.c
index 315457ada..5909c31fe 100644
--- a/net/ping.c
+++ b/net/ping.c
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 static ushort PingSeqNo;
 
+static IPaddr_t	NetPingIP;		/* the ip address to ping 		*/
+
 static int PingSend(void)
 {
 	static uchar mac[6];