diff --git a/python/cells.cpp b/python/cells.cpp
index bc881d3ae81fbd724f79fd6a6ed57bfa451e168c..1421d3e591b20480d9bf7bd22b11d1483098ff27 100644
--- a/python/cells.cpp
+++ b/python/cells.cpp
@@ -585,14 +585,6 @@ void register_cells(pybind11::module& m) {
             return util::pprintf("<arbor.iclamp: frequency {} Hz>", c.frequency);});
 
     // arb::threshold_detector
-    struct spike_detector {};
-    pybind11::class_<spike_detector> sd(m, "spike_detector", "Deprecated, please use 'threshold_detector'");
-    sd.def(pybind11::init(
-               [](pybind11::object) -> spike_detector {
-                   throw arb::arbor_exception{"Deprecated, please use 'threshold_detector' instead."};
-                   return {}; // unreachable
-               }));
-
     pybind11::class_<arb::threshold_detector> detector(m, "threshold_detector",
             "A spike detector, generates a spike when voltage crosses a threshold. Can be used as source endpoint for an arbor.connection.");
     detector