diff --git a/include/pybind11/eigen/matrix.h b/include/pybind11/eigen/matrix.h
index eafbca1490..8d4342f81b 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/eigen/matrix.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/eigen/matrix.h
@@ -351,9 +351,6 @@ struct type_caster<Type, enable_if_t<is_eigen_dense_plain<Type>::value>> {
                 return eigen_ref_array<props>(*src);
             case return_value_policy::reference_internal:
                 return eigen_ref_array<props>(*src, parent);
-            case return_value_policy::_return_as_bytes:
-                pybind11_fail("return_value_policy::_return_as_bytes does not apply.");
-                break;
             default:
                 throw cast_error("unhandled return_value_policy: should not happen!");
         };
diff --git a/include/pybind11/eigen/tensor.h b/include/pybind11/eigen/tensor.h
index 803d41becf..d4ed6c0ca8 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/eigen/tensor.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/eigen/tensor.h
@@ -313,10 +313,6 @@ struct type_caster<Type, typename eigen_tensor_helper<Type>::ValidType> {
                 writeable = !std::is_const<C>::value;
                 break;
 
-            case return_value_policy::_return_as_bytes:
-                pybind11_fail("return_value_policy::_return_as_bytes does not apply.");
-                break;
-
             default:
                 pybind11_fail("pybind11 bug in eigen.h, please file a bug report");
         }