diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
index ee89e500a..9b33a2a05 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-attribute-buffer.c
@@ -86,11 +86,10 @@ cogl_attribute_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
   /* XXX: NB: for Cogl 2.0 we don't allow NULL data here but we can't
    * break the api for 1.x and so we keep the check for now. */
   if (data)
-    _cogl_buffer_set_data (COGL_BUFFER (buffer),
-                           0,
-                           data,
-                           bytes,
-                           NULL);
+    cogl_buffer_set_data (COGL_BUFFER (buffer),
+                          0,
+                          data,
+                          bytes);
 
   return buffer;
 }
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer-private.h b/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer-private.h
index a08d62592..bebc18f41 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer-private.h
@@ -90,13 +90,6 @@ struct _CoglBufferClass
   GObjectClass parent_class;
 };
 
-gboolean
-_cogl_buffer_set_data (CoglBuffer *buffer,
-                       size_t offset,
-                       const void *data,
-                       size_t size,
-                       GError **error);
-
 void *
 _cogl_buffer_map (CoglBuffer *buffer,
                   CoglBufferAccess access,
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
index 166e51afb..8c258e024 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-buffer.c
@@ -365,11 +365,10 @@ _cogl_buffer_unmap_for_fill_or_fallback (CoglBuffer *buffer)
        * smaller buffers, though that would probably not help for
        * deferred renderers.
        */
-      _cogl_buffer_set_data (buffer,
-                             ctx->buffer_map_fallback_offset,
-                             ctx->buffer_map_fallback_array->data,
-                             ctx->buffer_map_fallback_array->len,
-                             NULL);
+      cogl_buffer_set_data (buffer,
+                            ctx->buffer_map_fallback_offset,
+                            ctx->buffer_map_fallback_array->data,
+                            ctx->buffer_map_fallback_array->len);
       buffer->flags &= ~COGL_BUFFER_FLAG_MAPPED_FALLBACK;
     }
   else
@@ -377,27 +376,19 @@ _cogl_buffer_unmap_for_fill_or_fallback (CoglBuffer *buffer)
 }
 
 gboolean
-_cogl_buffer_set_data (CoglBuffer *buffer,
-                       size_t offset,
-                       const void *data,
-                       size_t size,
-                       GError **error)
+cogl_buffer_set_data (CoglBuffer *buffer,
+                      size_t      offset,
+                      const void *data,
+                      size_t      size)
 {
+  GError *ignore_error = NULL;
+  gboolean status;
+
   g_return_val_if_fail (COGL_IS_BUFFER (buffer), FALSE);
   g_return_val_if_fail ((offset + size) <= buffer->size, FALSE);
 
-  return buffer->set_data (buffer, offset, data, size, error);
-}
+  status = buffer->set_data (buffer, offset, data, size, &ignore_error);
 
-gboolean
-cogl_buffer_set_data (CoglBuffer *buffer,
-                      size_t offset,
-                      const void *data,
-                      size_t size)
-{
-  GError *ignore_error = NULL;
-  gboolean status =
-    _cogl_buffer_set_data (buffer, offset, data, size, &ignore_error);
   g_clear_error (&ignore_error);
   return status;
 }
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-indices.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-indices.c
index 3697a075f..1989d8af6 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-indices.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-indices.c
@@ -107,16 +107,12 @@ cogl_indices_new (CoglContext *context,
   CoglIndexBuffer *index_buffer = cogl_index_buffer_new (context, buffer_bytes);
   CoglBuffer *buffer = COGL_BUFFER (index_buffer);
   CoglIndices *indices;
-  GError *ignore_error = NULL;
 
-  _cogl_buffer_set_data (buffer,
-                         0,
-                         indices_data,
-                         buffer_bytes,
-                         &ignore_error);
-  if (ignore_error)
+  if (!cogl_buffer_set_data (buffer,
+                             0,
+                             indices_data,
+                             buffer_bytes))
     {
-      g_error_free (ignore_error);
       g_object_unref (index_buffer);
       return NULL;
     }
@@ -240,4 +236,3 @@ cogl_get_rectangle_indices (CoglContext *ctx, int n_rectangles)
       return ctx->rectangle_short_indices;
     }
 }
-
diff --git a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
index 392460933..660841919 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl/cogl-pixel-buffer.c
@@ -61,11 +61,10 @@ cogl_pixel_buffer_init (CoglPixelBuffer *buffer)
 {
 }
 
-static CoglPixelBuffer *
-_cogl_pixel_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
-                        size_t       size,
-                        const void  *data,
-                        GError     **error)
+CoglPixelBuffer *
+cogl_pixel_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
+                       size_t       size,
+                       const void  *data)
 {
   CoglPixelBuffer *pixel_buffer;
 
@@ -78,11 +77,10 @@ _cogl_pixel_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
 
   if (data)
     {
-      if (!_cogl_buffer_set_data (COGL_BUFFER (pixel_buffer),
-                                  0,
-                                  data,
-                                  size,
-                                  error))
+      if (!cogl_buffer_set_data (COGL_BUFFER (pixel_buffer),
+                                 0,
+                                 data,
+                                 size))
         {
           g_object_unref (pixel_buffer);
           return NULL;
@@ -91,16 +89,3 @@ _cogl_pixel_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
 
   return pixel_buffer;
 }
-
-CoglPixelBuffer *
-cogl_pixel_buffer_new (CoglContext *context,
-                       size_t       size,
-                       const void  *data)
-{
-  GError *ignore_error = NULL;
-  CoglPixelBuffer *buffer =
-    _cogl_pixel_buffer_new (context, size, data, &ignore_error);
-
-  g_clear_error (&ignore_error);
-  return buffer;
-}