diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index 48b7a499aed6..dfda9d94479b 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -492,7 +492,6 @@ def __init__(self, fig, rect,
         self.set_axisbelow(rcParams['axes.axisbelow'])
 
         self._rasterization_zorder = None
-        self._connected = {}  # a dict from events to (id, func)
         self.cla()
 
         # funcs used to format x and y - fall back on major formatters