diff --git a/src/frontend/mame/clifront.cpp b/src/frontend/mame/clifront.cpp
index 227251b2d9d..c7a01674f47 100644
--- a/src/frontend/mame/clifront.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/mame/clifront.cpp
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ void cli_frontend::start_execution(mame_machine_manager *manager, std::vector<st
 	if (!mame_options::parse_command_line(m_options, args, option_errors))
 	{
 		// if we failed, check for no command and a system name first; in that case error on the name
-		if (*(m_options.command()) == 0 && mame_options::system(m_options) == nullptr && *(m_options.system_name()) != 0)
+		if (m_options.command().empty() && mame_options::system(m_options) == nullptr && *(m_options.system_name()) != 0)
 			throw emu_fatalerror(EMU_ERR_NO_SUCH_GAME, "Unknown system '%s'", m_options.system_name());
 
 		// otherwise, error on the options
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ void cli_frontend::start_execution(mame_machine_manager *manager, std::vector<st
 	std::string exename = core_filename_extract_base(args[0], true);
 
 	// if we have a command, execute that
-	if (*(m_options.command()) != 0)
+	if (!m_options.command().empty())
 	{
 		execute_commands(exename.c_str());
 		return;
@@ -1329,14 +1329,14 @@ void cli_frontend::romident(const char *filename)
 void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 {
 	// help?
-	if (strcmp(m_options.command(), CLICOMMAND_HELP) == 0)
+	if (m_options.command() == CLICOMMAND_HELP)
 	{
 		display_help(exename);
 		return;
 	}
 
 	// showusage?
-	if (strcmp(m_options.command(), CLICOMMAND_SHOWUSAGE) == 0)
+	if (m_options.command() == CLICOMMAND_SHOWUSAGE)
 	{
 		osd_printf_info("Usage:  %s [machine] [media] [software] [options]",exename);
 		osd_printf_info("\n\nOptions:\n%s", m_options.output_help().c_str());
@@ -1344,7 +1344,7 @@ void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 	}
 
 	// validate?
-	if (strcmp(m_options.command(), CLICOMMAND_VALIDATE) == 0)
+	if (m_options.command() == CLICOMMAND_VALIDATE)
 	{
 		validity_checker valid(m_options);
 		valid.set_validate_all(true);
@@ -1362,7 +1362,7 @@ void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 		osd_printf_error("%s\n", option_errors.c_str());
 
 	// createconfig?
-	if (strcmp(m_options.command(), CLICOMMAND_CREATECONFIG) == 0)
+	if (m_options.command() == CLICOMMAND_CREATECONFIG)
 	{
 		// attempt to open the output file
 		emu_file file(OPEN_FLAG_WRITE | OPEN_FLAG_CREATE | OPEN_FLAG_CREATE_PATHS);
@@ -1398,7 +1398,7 @@ void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 	}
 
 	// showconfig?
-	if (strcmp(m_options.command(), CLICOMMAND_SHOWCONFIG) == 0)
+	if (m_options.command() == CLICOMMAND_SHOWCONFIG)
 	{
 		// print the INI text
 		printf("%s\n", m_options.output_ini().c_str());
@@ -1435,7 +1435,7 @@ void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 	// find the command
 	for (auto & info_command : info_commands)
 	{
-		if (strcmp(m_options.command(), info_command.option) == 0)
+		if (m_options.command() == info_command.option)
 		{
 			// parse any relevant INI files before proceeding
 			const char *sysname = m_options.system_name();
@@ -1444,9 +1444,9 @@ void cli_frontend::execute_commands(const char *exename)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (!m_osd.execute_command(m_options.command()))
+	if (!m_osd.execute_command(m_options.command().c_str()))
 		// if we get here, we don't know what has been requested
-		throw emu_fatalerror(EMU_ERR_INVALID_CONFIG, "Unknown command '%s' specified", m_options.command());
+		throw emu_fatalerror(EMU_ERR_INVALID_CONFIG, "Unknown command '%s' specified", m_options.command().c_str());
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/lib/util/options.cpp b/src/lib/util/options.cpp
index b835d0fa681..8500eda327d 100644
--- a/src/lib/util/options.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/util/options.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@ const char *const core_options::s_option_unadorned[MAX_UNADORNED_OPTIONS] =
 core_options::entry::entry(const char *name, const char *description, uint32_t flags, const char *defvalue)
 	: m_next(nullptr),
 		m_flags(flags),
-		m_seqid(0),
 		m_error_reported(false),
 		m_priority(OPTION_PRIORITY_DEFAULT),
 		m_description(description),
@@ -111,7 +110,6 @@ void core_options::entry::set_value(const char *newdata, int priority)
 	// set the data and priority, then bump the sequence
 	m_data = newdata;
 	m_priority = priority;
-	m_seqid++;
 }
 
 
@@ -683,16 +681,6 @@ int core_options::priority(const char *name) const
 }
 
 
-//-------------------------------------------------
-//  seqid - return the seqid for a given option
-//-------------------------------------------------
-
-uint32_t core_options::seqid(const char *name) const
-{
-	auto curentry = m_entrymap.find(name);
-	return (curentry != m_entrymap.end()) ? curentry->second->seqid() : 0;
-}
-
 //-------------------------------------------------
 //  exists - return if option exists in list
 //-------------------------------------------------
@@ -702,16 +690,7 @@ bool core_options::exists(const char *name) const
 	return (m_entrymap.find(name) != m_entrymap.end());
 }
 
-//-------------------------------------------------
-//  is_changed - return if option have been marked
-//  changed
-//-------------------------------------------------
 
-bool core_options::is_changed(const char *name) const
-{
-	auto curentry = m_entrymap.find(name);
-	return (curentry != m_entrymap.end()) ? curentry->second->is_changed() : false;
-}
 //-------------------------------------------------
 //  set_value - set the raw option value
 //-------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/src/lib/util/options.h b/src/lib/util/options.h
index 637481b12b2..edf7f8600c8 100644
--- a/src/lib/util/options.h
+++ b/src/lib/util/options.h
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
 
 ***************************************************************************/
 
-#ifndef __OPTIONS_H__
-#define __OPTIONS_H__
+#ifndef MAME_LIB_UTIL_OPTIONS_H
+#define MAME_LIB_UTIL_OPTIONS_H
 
 #include "corefile.h"
 #include <unordered_map>
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ public:
 		const char *default_value() const { return m_defdata.c_str(); }
 		const char *minimum() const { return m_minimum.c_str(); }
 		const char *maximum() const { return m_maximum.c_str(); }
-		uint32_t seqid() const { return m_seqid; }
 		int type() const { return (m_flags & OPTION_TYPE_MASK); }
 		uint32_t flags() const { return m_flags; }
 		bool is_header() const { return type() == OPTION_HEADER; }
@@ -103,7 +102,6 @@ public:
 		// internal state
 		entry *                 m_next;             // link to the next data
 		uint32_t                  m_flags;            // flags from the entry
-		uint32_t                  m_seqid;            // sequence ID; bumped on each change
 		bool                    m_error_reported;   // have we reported an error on this option yet?
 		int                     m_priority;         // priority of the data set
 		const char *            m_description;      // description for this item
@@ -130,7 +128,7 @@ public:
 
 	// getters
 	entry *first() const { return m_entrylist.first(); }
-	const char *command() const { return m_command.c_str(); }
+	const std::string &command() const { return m_command; }
 	entry *get_entry(const char *name) const;
 
 	// range iterators
@@ -165,9 +163,7 @@ public:
 	bool bool_value(const char *name) const { return (atoi(value(name)) != 0); }
 	int int_value(const char *name) const { return atoi(value(name)); }
 	float float_value(const char *name) const { return atof(value(name)); }
-	uint32_t seqid(const char *name) const;
 	bool exists(const char *name) const;
-	bool is_changed(const char *name) const;
 
 	// setting
 	bool set_value(const char *name, const char *value, int priority, std::string &error_string);
@@ -210,4 +206,4 @@ private:
 
 
 
-#endif /* __OPTIONS_H__ */
+#endif // MAME_LIB_UTIL_OPTIONS_H