diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index c63e7db7..fa98f7c1 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -1027,7 +1027,6 @@ inline dict globals() {
 PYBIND11_NAMESPACE_BEGIN(detail)
 /// Generic support for creating new Python heap types
 class generic_type : public object {
-    template <typename...> friend class class_;
 public:
     PYBIND11_OBJECT_DEFAULT(generic_type, object, PyType_Check)
 protected: