diff --git a/libs/androidfw/BackupHelpers.cpp b/libs/androidfw/BackupHelpers.cpp
index 4dcb6e7797d55..227de3b7d8bf9 100644
--- a/libs/androidfw/BackupHelpers.cpp
+++ b/libs/androidfw/BackupHelpers.cpp
@@ -201,6 +201,13 @@ write_snapshot_file(int fd, const KeyedVector<String8,FileRec>& snapshot)
     return 0;
 }
 
+static int
+write_delete_file(BackupDataWriter* dataStream, const String8& key)
+{
+    LOGP("write_delete_file %s\n", key.string());
+    return dataStream->WriteEntityHeader(key, -1);
+}
+
 static int
 write_update_file(BackupDataWriter* dataStream, int fd, int mode, const String8& key,
         char const* realFilename)