diff --git a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
index aa7533a7..fe14267e 100644
--- a/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/impl/clojure/core.clj
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@
   {:no-doc true}
   (:refer-clojure :exclude [future read read-string])
   (:require [borkdude.graal.locking :as locking]
-            [clojure.tools.reader.reader-types :as r]
-            [sci.impl.namespaces :refer [copy-core-var]]
-            [sci.impl.parser :as parser]))
+            [sci.impl.namespaces :refer [copy-core-var]]))
 
 (defn locking* [form bindings v f & args]
   (apply @#'locking/locking form bindings v f args))
@@ -18,12 +16,6 @@
      (prn (str "Elapsed time: " (/ (double (- (. System (nanoTime)) start#)) 1000000.0) " msecs"))
      ret#))
 
-(defn read-string
-  ([sci-ctx s]
-   (let [reader (r/indexing-push-back-reader (r/push-back-reader s))]
-     (parser/parse-next sci-ctx reader)))
-  #_([opts s] (clojure.lang.RT/readString s opts)))
-
 (def core-extras
   {'file-seq (copy-core-var file-seq)
    'agent agent
@@ -35,7 +27,6 @@
    'locking (with-meta locking* {:sci/macro true})
    'shutdown-agents shutdown-agents
    'slurp (copy-core-var slurp)
-   'read-string (with-meta read-string {:sci.impl/op :needs-ctx})
    'spit (copy-core-var spit)
    'time (with-meta time* {:sci/macro true})
    'Throwable->map Throwable->map
diff --git a/src/babashka/main.clj b/src/babashka/main.clj
index c801e9e6..04f0a844 100644
--- a/src/babashka/main.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/main.clj
@@ -210,9 +210,6 @@ Everything after that is bound to *command-line-args*."))
     (sci/with-bindings {vars/current-file (.getCanonicalPath f)}
       (eval-string* sci-ctx s))))
 
-(defn eval* [sci-ctx form]
-  (eval-form sci-ctx form))
-
 (defn start-socket-repl! [address ctx]
   (socket-repl/start-repl! address ctx)
   ;; hang until SIGINT
@@ -358,7 +355,6 @@ Everything after that is bound to *command-line-args*."))
             _ (swap! (:env sci-ctx)
                      (fn [env]
                        (update-in env [:namespaces 'clojure.core] assoc
-                                  'eval #(eval* sci-ctx %)
                                   'load-file #(load-file* sci-ctx %))))
             _ (swap! (:env sci-ctx)
                      (fn [env]