diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 1c376074c..714b66b7c 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -297,7 +297,6 @@ std::string HelpMessage(HelpMessageMode mode)
     string strUsage = HelpMessageGroup(_("Options:"));
     strUsage += HelpMessageOpt("-?", _("This help message"));
     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)
@@ -965,7 +964,6 @@ bool AppInit2(Config& config, boost::thread_group& threadGroup, CScheduler& sche
     fAcceptDatacarrier = GetBoolArg("-datacarrier", DEFAULT_ACCEPT_DATACARRIER);
     nMaxDatacarrierBytes = GetArg("-datacarriersize", nMaxDatacarrierBytes);
 
-    fAlerts = GetBoolArg("-alerts", DEFAULT_ALERTS);
     fBIP37 = GetArg("-bip37", false);
 
     // Option to startup with mocktime set (used for regression testing):
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index ec007e5e8..ced1f8863 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ bool fCheckBlockIndex = false;
 bool fCheckpointsEnabled = DEFAULT_CHECKPOINTS_ENABLED;
 size_t nCoinCacheUsage = 5000 * 300;
 uint64_t nPruneTarget = 0;
-bool fAlerts = DEFAULT_ALERTS;
 bool fEnableReplacement = DEFAULT_ENABLE_REPLACEMENT;
 
 CFeeRate minRelayTxFee = CFeeRate(DEFAULT_MIN_RELAY_TX_FEE);
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 7e833b706..b18614890 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@ class CWallet;
 struct CNodeStateStats;
 struct LockPoints;
 
-/** Default for accepting alerts from the P2P network. */
-static const bool DEFAULT_ALERTS = false;
 /** Default for DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY. */
 static const bool DEFAULT_WHITELISTRELAY = true;
 /** Default for DEFAULT_WHITELISTFORCERELAY. */
@@ -164,7 +162,6 @@ 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;
 extern bool fEnableReplacement;
 extern int64_t nLastCoinStakeSearchInterval;