diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index a39256c6e3..b430bcd585 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -315,7 +315,6 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     string strUsage = HelpMessageGroup(_("Options:"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-?", _("Print this help message and exit"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-version", _("Print version and exit"));
-    strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-alerts", strprintf(_("Receive and display P2P network alerts (default: %u)"), DEFAULT_ALERTS));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-alertnotify=<cmd>", _("Execute command when a relevant alert is received or we see a really long fork (%s in cmd is replaced by message)"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-blocknotify=<cmd>", _("Execute command when the best block changes (%s in cmd is replaced by block hash)"));
     if (showDebug)
@@ -1002,8 +1001,6 @@ bool AppInit2(boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& scheduler)
     fAcceptDatacarrier = GetBoolArg("-datacarrier", DEFAULT_ACCEPT_DATACARRIER);
     nMaxDatacarrierBytes = GetArg("-datacarriersize", nMaxDatacarrierBytes);
 
-    fAlerts = GetBoolArg("-alerts", DEFAULT_ALERTS);
-
     // Option to startup with mocktime set (used for regression testing):
     SetMockTime(GetArg("-mocktime", 0)); // SetMockTime(0) is a no-op
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 6c193a25e3..e78ce4cdf7 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -74,7 +74,6 @@ bool fCheckBlockIndex = false;
 bool fCheckpointsEnabled = DEFAULT_CHECKPOINTS_ENABLED;
 size_t nCoinCacheUsage = 5000 * 300;
 uint64_t nPruneTarget = 0;
-bool fAlerts = DEFAULT_ALERTS;
 int64_t nMaxTipAge = DEFAULT_MAX_TIP_AGE;
 bool fEnableReplacement = DEFAULT_ENABLE_REPLACEMENT;
 
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 6936b5379a..7ec48d9d00 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -42,8 +42,6 @@ class CValidationState;
 struct CNodeStateStats;
 struct LockPoints;
 
-/** Default for accepting alerts from the P2P network. */
-static const bool DEFAULT_ALERTS = true;
 /** Default for DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY. */
 static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY = true;
 /** Default for DEFAULT_WHITELISTFORCERELAY. */
@@ -155,7 +153,6 @@ extern size_t nCoinCacheUsage;
 extern CFeeRate minRelayTxFee;
 /** Absolute maximum transaction fee (in satoshis) used by wallet and mempool (rejects high fee in sendrawtransaction) */
 extern CAmount maxTxFee;
-extern bool fAlerts;
 /** If the tip is older than this (in seconds), the node is considered to be in initial block download. */
 extern int64_t nMaxTipAge;
 extern bool fEnableReplacement;