diff --git a/numcodecs/packbits.py b/numcodecs/packbits.py
index d22976ed..bcdcf866 100644
--- a/numcodecs/packbits.py
+++ b/numcodecs/packbits.py
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@ class PackBits(Codec):
 
     codec_id = 'packbits'
 
-    def __init__(self):
-        pass
-
     def encode(self, buf):
         # normalise input
         arr = ensure_ndarray(buf).view(bool)