diff --git a/src/cxx/foundation_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc b/src/cxx/foundation_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
index 3c86927..eb4e9a6 100644
--- a/src/cxx/foundation_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
+++ b/src/cxx/foundation_pEp_jniadapter_AbstractEngine.cc
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ jmethodID passphrase_callback_values = nullptr;
 jobject objj = nullptr;
 
 jclass messageClass = nullptr;
-jclass identityClass = nullptr;
 jclass signalClass = nullptr;
 jclass abstractEngineClass = nullptr;
 jclass passphraseTypeClass = nullptr;
@@ -69,7 +68,6 @@ void jni_init() {
     JNIEnv * _env = JNISync::env();
 
     messageClass = static_cast<jclass>(_env->NewGlobalRef(findClass(_env, "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/Message")));
-    identityClass = static_cast<jclass>(_env->NewGlobalRef(findClass(_env, "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/_Identity")));
     signalClass = static_cast<jclass>(_env->NewGlobalRef(findClass(_env, "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/SyncHandshakeSignal")));
     passphraseTypeClass = static_cast<jclass>(_env->NewGlobalRef(findClass(_env, "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/PassphraseType")));
     abstractEngineClass = static_cast<jclass>(_env->NewGlobalRef(findClass(_env, "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine")));
@@ -203,8 +201,8 @@ PEP_STATUS notifyHandshake(pEp_identity *me,
     jobject me_ = nullptr;
     jobject partner_ = nullptr;
 
-    me_ = from_identity(JNISync::env(), me, identityClass);
-    partner_ = from_identity(JNISync::env(), partner, identityClass);
+    me_ = from_identity(JNISync::env(), me);
+    partner_ = from_identity(JNISync::env(), partner);
 
     jobject signal_ = nullptr;
     {
diff --git a/src/cxx/jniutils.cc b/src/cxx/jniutils.cc
index bad064c..8bacea0 100644
--- a/src/cxx/jniutils.cc
+++ b/src/cxx/jniutils.cc
@@ -518,41 +518,6 @@ jobject from_identity(JNIEnv *env,
     return obj;
 }
 
-//TODO: fix/generalize/clean patch added to make keysync work using globalref to class
-jobject from_identity(JNIEnv *env,
-        pEp_identity *ident,
-        jclass identityClass)
-{
-    if (!ident) {
-        return (jobject) NULL;
-    }
-
-    static const char *classname = "foundation/pEp/jniadapter/_Identity";
-    jmethodID constructor = env->GetMethodID(identityClass, "<init>", "()V");
-    assert(constructor);
-    jobject obj = env->NewObject(identityClass, constructor);
-
-    if (ident) {
-        _setStringField(env, classname, obj, "address", ident->address, identityClass);
-        _setStringField(env, classname, obj, "fpr", ident->fpr, identityClass);
-        _setStringField(env, classname, obj, "user_id", ident->user_id, identityClass);
-        _setStringField(env, classname, obj, "username", ident->username, identityClass);
-
-        jfieldID comm_type_id = getFieldID(env, classname, "comm_type", "I", identityClass);
-        env->SetIntField(obj, comm_type_id, static_cast<jint>(ident->comm_type));
-
-        _setStringField(env, classname, obj, "lang", ident->lang, identityClass);
-
-        jfieldID me_id = getFieldID(env, classname, "me", "Z", identityClass);
-        env->SetBooleanField(obj, me_id, static_cast<jboolean>(ident->me));
-
-        jfieldID flags_id = getFieldID(env, classname, "flags", "I", identityClass);
-        env->SetIntField(obj, flags_id, static_cast<jint>(ident->flags));
-    }
-
-    return obj;
-}
-
 char *_getStringField(JNIEnv *env,
         const char *classname,
         jobject obj,
diff --git a/src/cxx/jniutils.hh b/src/cxx/jniutils.hh
index 0b346b1..c281723 100644
--- a/src/cxx/jniutils.hh
+++ b/src/cxx/jniutils.hh
@@ -113,10 +113,6 @@ timestamp *to_timestamp(JNIEnv *env,
 jobject from_identity(JNIEnv *env,
         pEp_identity *ident);
 
-jobject from_identity(JNIEnv *env,
-        pEp_identity *ident,
-        jclass identityClass);
-
 pEp_identity *to_identity(JNIEnv *env,
         jobject obj);