diff --git a/include/git2/types.h b/include/git2/types.h
index d83b1d14b..06fcf3613 100644
--- a/include/git2/types.h
+++ b/include/git2/types.h
@@ -151,15 +151,11 @@ typedef struct git_time {
 
 /** An action signature (e.g. for committers, taggers, etc) */
 typedef struct git_signature {
-	unsigned int version;
 	char *name; /** full name of the author */
 	char *email; /** email of the author */
 	git_time when; /** time when the action happened */
 } git_signature;
 
-#define GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION 1
-#define GIT_SIGNATURE_INIT {GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, 0}
-
 /** In-memory representation of a reference. */
 typedef struct git_reference git_reference;
 
diff --git a/src/commit.c b/src/commit.c
index f9606dd72..4072518ff 100644
--- a/src/commit.c
+++ b/src/commit.c
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ int git_commit_create(
 	git_odb *odb;
 
 	assert(git_object_owner((const git_object *)tree) == repo);
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(author, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(committer, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
 
 	git_oid__writebuf(&commit, "tree ", git_object_id((const git_object *)tree));
 
diff --git a/src/notes.c b/src/notes.c
index 71a9e33ad..f96b5b139 100644
--- a/src/notes.c
+++ b/src/notes.c
@@ -456,9 +456,6 @@ int git_note_create(
 	git_commit *commit = NULL;
 	git_tree *tree = NULL;
 
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(author, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(committer, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-
 	target = git_oid_allocfmt(oid);
 	GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(target);
 
@@ -486,9 +483,6 @@ int git_note_remove(git_repository *repo, const char *notes_ref,
 	git_commit *commit = NULL;
 	git_tree *tree = NULL;
 
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(author, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(committer, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-
 	target = git_oid_allocfmt(oid);
 	GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(target);
 
diff --git a/src/reflog.c b/src/reflog.c
index c0af60f49..ac481fb81 100644
--- a/src/reflog.c
+++ b/src/reflog.c
@@ -112,7 +112,6 @@ static int reflog_parse(git_reflog *log, const char *buf, size_t buf_size)
 
 		entry->committer = git__malloc(sizeof(git_signature));
 		GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(entry->committer);
-		entry->committer->version = GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION;
 
 		if (git_oid_fromstrn(&entry->oid_old, buf, GIT_OID_HEXSZ) < 0)
 			goto fail;
@@ -298,8 +297,6 @@ int git_reflog_append(git_reflog *reflog, const git_oid *new_oid,
 
 	assert(reflog && new_oid && committer);
 
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(committer, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-
 	if (reflog_entry_new(&entry) < 0)
 		return -1;
 
diff --git a/src/signature.c b/src/signature.c
index 008b13120..7d043e6cf 100644
--- a/src/signature.c
+++ b/src/signature.c
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ int git_signature_new(git_signature **sig_out, const char *name, const char *ema
 
 	p = git__calloc(1, sizeof(git_signature));
 	GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(p);
-	p->version = GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION;
 
 	if (process_trimming(name, &p->name, name + strlen(name), 1) < 0 ||
 		process_trimming(email, &p->email, email + strlen(email), 1) < 0)
@@ -264,9 +263,8 @@ int git_signature__parse(git_signature *sig, const char **buffer_out,
 	const char *buffer = *buffer_out;
 	const char *line_end, *name_end, *email_end, *tz_start, *time_start;
 	int error = 0;
-	git_signature initsig = GIT_SIGNATURE_INIT;
 
-	memmove(sig, &initsig, sizeof(git_signature));
+	memset(sig, 0, sizeof(git_signature));
 
 	if ((line_end = memchr(buffer, ender, buffer_end - buffer)) == NULL)
 		return signature_error("no newline given");
diff --git a/src/stash.c b/src/stash.c
index 14b48a595..e32d8fa31 100644
--- a/src/stash.c
+++ b/src/stash.c
@@ -523,8 +523,6 @@ int git_stash_save(
 
 	assert(out && repo && stasher);
 
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(stasher, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-
 	if ((error = ensure_non_bare_repository(repo)) < 0)
 		return error;
 
diff --git a/src/tag.c b/src/tag.c
index c3b3319fb..606afd657 100644
--- a/src/tag.c
+++ b/src/tag.c
@@ -244,8 +244,6 @@ static int git_tag_create__internal(
 	assert(repo && tag_name && target);
 	assert(!create_tag_annotation || (tagger && message));
 
-	GITERR_CHECK_VERSION(tagger, GIT_SIGNATURE_VERSION, "git_signature");
-
 	if (git_object_owner(target) != repo) {
 		giterr_set(GITERR_INVALID, "The given target does not belong to this repository");
 		return -1;
diff --git a/tests-clar/commit/parse.c b/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
index 37e38db53..8075f2619 100644
--- a/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
+++ b/tests-clar/commit/parse.c
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ void test_commit_parse__signature(void)
    {
       const char *str = passcase->string;
       size_t len = strlen(passcase->string);
-      struct git_signature person = GIT_SIGNATURE_INIT;
+      struct git_signature person = {0};
       cl_git_pass(git_signature__parse(&person, &str, str + len, passcase->header, '\n'));
       cl_assert(strcmp(passcase->name, person.name) == 0);
       cl_assert(strcmp(passcase->email, person.email) == 0);
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ void test_commit_parse__signature(void)
    {
       const char *str = failcase->string;
       size_t len = strlen(failcase->string);
-      git_signature person = GIT_SIGNATURE_INIT;
+      git_signature person = {0};
       cl_git_fail(git_signature__parse(&person, &str, str + len, failcase->header, '\n'));
       git__free(person.name); git__free(person.email);
    }