diff --git a/src/python/pybind11/pyobject.cc b/src/python/pybind11/pyobject.cc
index bb2635a..a2da96d 100644
--- a/src/python/pybind11/pyobject.cc
+++ b/src/python/pybind11/pyobject.cc
@@ -55,24 +55,6 @@
 
 namespace py = pybind11;
 
-static EtherInt *
-lookupEthPort(SimObject *so, const std::string &name, int i)
-{
-    EtherObject *eo = dynamic_cast<EtherObject *>(so);
-    EtherDevice *ed = dynamic_cast<EtherDevice *>(so);
-    if (eo == NULL && ed == NULL) {
-        warn("error casting SimObject %s", so->name());
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    EtherInt *p = NULL;
-    if (eo)
-        p = eo->getEthPort(name, i);
-    else
-        p = ed->getEthPort(name, i);
-    return p;
-}
-
 /**
  * Connect the described MemObject ports.  Called from Python.
  * The indices i1 & i2 will be -1 for regular ports, >= 0 for vector ports.
@@ -82,19 +64,14 @@
 connectPorts(SimObject *o1, const std::string &name1, int i1,
              SimObject *o2, const std::string &name2, int i2)
 {
-    EtherObject *eo1, *eo2;
-    EtherDevice *ed1, *ed2;
-    eo1 = dynamic_cast<EtherObject*>(o1);
-    ed1 = dynamic_cast<EtherDevice*>(o1);
-    eo2 = dynamic_cast<EtherObject*>(o2);
-    ed2 = dynamic_cast<EtherDevice*>(o2);
+    auto *eo1 = dynamic_cast<EtherObject*>(o1);
+    auto *eo2 = dynamic_cast<EtherObject*>(o2);
 
-    if ((eo1 || ed1) && (eo2 || ed2)) {
-        EtherInt *p1 = lookupEthPort(o1, name1, i1);
-        EtherInt *p2 = lookupEthPort(o2, name2, i2);
+    if (eo1 && eo2) {
+        EtherInt *p1 = eo1->getEthPort(name1, i1);
+        EtherInt *p2 = eo2->getEthPort(name2, i2);
 
-        if (p1 != NULL &&  p2 != NULL) {
-
+        if (p1 && p2) {
             p1->setPeer(p2);
             p2->setPeer(p1);