--- a/src/rxvtperl.h
+++ b/src/rxvtperl.h
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@
 {
   char **perl_environ;
 
+  #if 0 // see rxvtperl.xs
   ~rxvt_perl_interp ();
+  #endif
 
   void init ();
   void init (rxvt_term *term);
--- a/src/rxvtperl.xs
+++ b/src/rxvtperl.xs
@@ -372,6 +372,9 @@
 
 static PerlInterpreter *perl;
 
+#if 0 /* we are not a library anymore, so doing this is just not worth it */
+/*THINK/TODO: this has the side effect of, of course, not calling destructors. */
+/* but therse are not guaranteed anyway... */
 rxvt_perl_interp::~rxvt_perl_interp ()
 {
   if (perl)
@@ -381,6 +384,7 @@
       PERL_SYS_TERM ();
     }
 }
+#endif
 
 void
 rxvt_perl_interp::init ()