Calculation of the optical constants of GaAs is presented. In this work we do not take into account excitonic effects at E₁ and E₁+₁ critical points. In such a manner, fewer adjustable model parameters are required and the term with dubious physical interpretation describing excitons at E₁ and E₁+₁ is left out. Reasons for exclusion of this term are discussed in detail. In spite of the fewer terms describing the contributions of different transitions to the dielectric function, we obtain excellent agreement with experimental data over the entire 0.125-6 eV range, with relative rms error for the refractive index equal to 2.6%.