diff --git a/aiokafka/protocol/message.py b/aiokafka/protocol/message.py
index 6f3eee4f..31993fe6 100644
--- a/aiokafka/protocol/message.py
+++ b/aiokafka/protocol/message.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     zstd_decode,
 )
 from aiokafka.errors import UnsupportedCodecError
-from aiokafka.util import WeakMethod
 
 from .struct import Struct
 from .types import AbstractType, Bytes, Int8, Int32, Int64, Schema, UInt32
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ def __init__(self, value, key=None, magic=0, attributes=0, crc=0, timestamp=None
         self.attributes = attributes
         self.key = key
         self.value = value
-        self.encode = WeakMethod(self._encode_self)
 
     @property
     def timestamp_type(self):
@@ -79,7 +77,7 @@ def timestamp_type(self):
         else:
             return 0
 
-    def _encode_self(self, recalc_crc=True):
+    def encode(self, recalc_crc=True):
         version = self.magic
         if version == 1:
             fields = (
@@ -129,7 +127,7 @@ def decode(cls, data):
 
     def validate_crc(self):
         if self._validated_crc is None:
-            raw_msg = self._encode_self(recalc_crc=False)
+            raw_msg = self.encode(recalc_crc=False)
             self._validated_crc = crc32(raw_msg[4:])
         if self.crc == self._validated_crc:
             return True
@@ -170,7 +168,7 @@ def decompress(self):
         return MessageSet.decode(raw_bytes, bytes_to_read=len(raw_bytes))
 
     def __hash__(self):
-        return hash(self._encode_self(recalc_crc=False))
+        return hash(self.encode(recalc_crc=False))
 
 
 class PartialMessage(bytes):
diff --git a/aiokafka/protocol/struct.py b/aiokafka/protocol/struct.py
index a87c53d9..ee99c75a 100644
--- a/aiokafka/protocol/struct.py
+++ b/aiokafka/protocol/struct.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 from io import BytesIO
 
-from aiokafka.util import WeakMethod
-
 from .abstract import AbstractType
 from .types import Schema
 
@@ -25,19 +23,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                     )
                 )
 
-        # overloading encode() to support both class and instance
-        # Without WeakMethod() this creates circular ref, which
-        # causes instances to "leak" to garbage
-        self.encode = WeakMethod(self._encode_self)
-
-    @classmethod
-    def encode(cls, item):
-        bits = []
-        for i, field in enumerate(cls.SCHEMA.fields):
-            bits.append(field.encode(item[i]))
-        return b"".join(bits)
-
-    def _encode_self(self):
+    def encode(self):
         return self.SCHEMA.encode([self.__dict__[name] for name in self.SCHEMA.names])
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/aiokafka/util.py b/aiokafka/util.py
index 1389bbd2..875d774b 100644
--- a/aiokafka/util.py
+++ b/aiokafka/util.py
@@ -2,9 +2,7 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import os
-import weakref
 from asyncio import AbstractEventLoop
-from types import MethodType
 from typing import (
     Any,
     Awaitable,
@@ -104,38 +102,3 @@ def get_running_loop() -> asyncio.AbstractEventLoop:
 
 INTEGER_MAX_VALUE = 2**31 - 1
 INTEGER_MIN_VALUE = -(2**31)
-
-
-class WeakMethod:
-    """
-    Callable that weakly references a method and the object it is bound to. It
-    is based on https://stackoverflow.com/a/24287465.
-
-    Arguments:
-
-        object_dot_method: A bound instance method (i.e. 'object.method').
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, object_dot_method: MethodType) -> None:
-        self.target = weakref.ref(object_dot_method.__self__)
-        self._target_id = id(self.target())
-        self.method = weakref.ref(object_dot_method.__func__)
-        self._method_id = id(self.method())
-
-    def __call__(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
-        """
-        Calls the method on target with args and kwargs.
-        """
-        method = self.method()
-        assert method is not None
-        return method(self.target(), *args, **kwargs)
-
-    def __hash__(self) -> int:
-        return hash(self.target) ^ hash(self.method)
-
-    def __eq__(self, other: Any) -> bool:
-        if not isinstance(other, WeakMethod):
-            return False
-        return (
-            self._target_id == other._target_id and self._method_id == other._method_id
-        )