diff --git a/gcc/fortran/bbt.cc b/gcc/fortran/bbt.cc
index 851e5e92c7b..2a032083c5c 100644
--- a/gcc/fortran/bbt.cc
+++ b/gcc/fortran/bbt.cc
@@ -168,31 +168,42 @@ delete_root (gfc_bbt *t)
    Returns the new root node of the tree.  */
 
 static gfc_bbt *
-delete_treap (gfc_bbt *old, gfc_bbt *t, compare_fn compare)
+delete_treap (gfc_bbt *old, gfc_bbt *t, compare_fn compare, gfc_bbt **removed)
 {
   int c;
 
-  if (t == NULL)
-    return NULL;
+  if (t == nullptr)
+    {
+      if (removed)
+	*removed = nullptr;
+      return nullptr;
+    }
 
   c = (*compare) (old, t);
 
   if (c < 0)
-    t->left = delete_treap (old, t->left, compare);
+    t->left = delete_treap (old, t->left, compare, removed);
   if (c > 0)
-    t->right = delete_treap (old, t->right, compare);
+    t->right = delete_treap (old, t->right, compare, removed);
   if (c == 0)
-    t = delete_root (t);
+    {
+      if (removed)
+	*removed = t;
+      t = delete_root (t);
+    }
 
   return t;
 }
 
 
-void
+void *
 gfc_delete_bbt (void *root, void *old, compare_fn compare)
 {
   gfc_bbt **t;
+  gfc_bbt *removed;
 
   t = (gfc_bbt **) root;
-  *t = delete_treap ((gfc_bbt *) old, *t, compare);
+  *t = delete_treap ((gfc_bbt *) old, *t, compare, &removed);
+
+  return (void *) removed;
 }
diff --git a/gcc/fortran/gfortran.h b/gcc/fortran/gfortran.h
index b37c6bb9ad4..371f8743312 100644
--- a/gcc/fortran/gfortran.h
+++ b/gcc/fortran/gfortran.h
@@ -3510,7 +3510,6 @@ bool gfc_reference_st_label (gfc_st_label *, gfc_sl_type);
 gfc_namespace *gfc_get_namespace (gfc_namespace *, int);
 gfc_symtree *gfc_new_symtree (gfc_symtree **, const char *);
 gfc_symtree *gfc_find_symtree (gfc_symtree *, const char *);
-void gfc_delete_symtree (gfc_symtree **, const char *);
 gfc_symtree *gfc_get_unique_symtree (gfc_namespace *);
 gfc_user_op *gfc_get_uop (const char *);
 gfc_user_op *gfc_find_uop (const char *, gfc_namespace *);
@@ -3911,7 +3910,7 @@ bool gfc_inline_intrinsic_function_p (gfc_expr *);
 /* bbt.cc */
 typedef int (*compare_fn) (void *, void *);
 void gfc_insert_bbt (void *, void *, compare_fn);
-void gfc_delete_bbt (void *, void *, compare_fn);
+void * gfc_delete_bbt (void *, void *, compare_fn);
 
 /* dump-parse-tree.cc */
 void gfc_dump_parse_tree (gfc_namespace *, FILE *);
diff --git a/gcc/fortran/symbol.cc b/gcc/fortran/symbol.cc
index aa3cdc98c86..2cba2ea0bed 100644
--- a/gcc/fortran/symbol.cc
+++ b/gcc/fortran/symbol.cc
@@ -2948,7 +2948,7 @@ gfc_new_symtree (gfc_symtree **root, const char *name)
 
 /* Delete a symbol from the tree.  Does not free the symbol itself!  */
 
-void
+static void
 gfc_delete_symtree (gfc_symtree **root, const char *name)
 {
   gfc_symtree st, *st0;
@@ -2963,10 +2963,8 @@ gfc_delete_symtree (gfc_symtree **root, const char *name)
   else
     p = name;
 
-  st0 = gfc_find_symtree (*root, p);
-
   st.name = gfc_get_string ("%s", p);
-  gfc_delete_bbt (root, &st, compare_symtree);
+  st0 = (gfc_symtree *) gfc_delete_bbt (root, &st, compare_symtree);
 
   free (st0);
 }