diff --git a/usr.bin/make/lst.h b/usr.bin/make/lst.h
index bb08f2c1b610..e9c8f1ccb7ef 100644
--- a/usr.bin/make/lst.h
+++ b/usr.bin/make/lst.h
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ ReturnStatus	Lst_Append(Lst *, LstNode *, void *);
 /* Place an element at the end of a lst. */
 #define	Lst_AtEnd(LST, D) 	(Lst_Append((LST), Lst_Last(LST), (D)))
 /* Remove an element */
-ReturnStatus	Lst_Remove(Lst *, LstNode *);
+void		Lst_Remove(Lst *, LstNode *);
 /* Replace a node with a new value */
 #define	Lst_Replace(NODE, D)	(((NODE) == NULL) ? FAILURE : \
 				    (((NODE)->datum = (D)), SUCCESS))
diff --git a/usr.bin/make/lst.lib/lstRemove.c b/usr.bin/make/lst.lib/lstRemove.c
index 035218d6225c..aa0fd996a8aa 100644
--- a/usr.bin/make/lst.lib/lstRemove.c
+++ b/usr.bin/make/lst.lib/lstRemove.c
@@ -64,42 +64,26 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
  *
  *-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
-ReturnStatus
+void
 Lst_Remove(Lst *list, LstNode *ln)
 {
 
-    if (!Lst_Valid(list) || !Lst_NodeValid(ln, list)) {
-	    return (FAILURE);
-    }
-
     /*
      * unlink it from the list
      */
-    if (ln->nextPtr != NULL) {
+    if (ln->nextPtr != NULL)
+	/* unlink from the backward chain */
 	ln->nextPtr->prevPtr = ln->prevPtr;
-    }
-    if (ln->prevPtr != NULL) {
-	ln->prevPtr->nextPtr = ln->nextPtr;
-    }
-
-    /*
-     * if either the firstPtr or lastPtr of the list point to this node,
-     * adjust them accordingly
-     */
-    if (list->firstPtr == ln) {
-	list->firstPtr = ln->nextPtr;
-    }
-    if (list->lastPtr == ln) {
+    else
+	/* this was the last element */
 	list->lastPtr = ln->prevPtr;
-    }
 
-    /*
-     * the only way firstPtr can still point to ln is if ln is the last
-     * node on the list. The list is, therefore, empty and is marked as such
-     */
-    if (list->firstPtr == ln) {
-	list->firstPtr = NULL;
-    }
+    if (ln->prevPtr != NULL)
+	/* unlink from the forward chain */
+	ln->prevPtr->nextPtr = ln->nextPtr;
+    else
+	/* this was the first element */
+	list->firstPtr = ln->nextPtr;
 
     /*
      * note that the datum is unmolested. The caller must free it as
@@ -110,6 +94,4 @@ Lst_Remove(Lst *list, LstNode *ln)
     } else {
 	ln->flags |= LN_DELETED;
     }
-
-    return (SUCCESS);
 }