diff --git a/lib/voxpupuli/release/rake_tasks.rb b/lib/voxpupuli/release/rake_tasks.rb
index 51a65d2..40f1717 100644
--- a/lib/voxpupuli/release/rake_tasks.rb
+++ b/lib/voxpupuli/release/rake_tasks.rb
@@ -165,14 +165,3 @@ def self.future_release
   ERROR
   exit(1)
 end
-
-# For backward compatibility
-task :reference do
-  warn <<-ERROR
-  The "reference" task is deprecated.
-
-  Prefer "release:prepare" which manage all pre-release steps, or directly run
-  the "strings:generate:reference" task.
-  ERROR
-  exit(1)
-end