diff --git a/neutron/conf/agent/database/agentschedulers_db.py b/neutron/conf/agent/database/agentschedulers_db.py
index 0de3eb267e2..cf4f3c6cb06 100644
--- a/neutron/conf/agent/database/agentschedulers_db.py
+++ b/neutron/conf/agent/database/agentschedulers_db.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ AGENTS_SCHEDULER_OPTS = [
                 help=_('Automatically remove networks from offline DHCP '
                        'agents.')),
     cfg.IntOpt('dhcp_agents_per_network', default=1,
+               min=1,
                help=_('Number of DHCP agents scheduled to host a tenant '
                       'network. If this number is greater than 1, the '
                       'scheduler automatically assigns multiple DHCP agents '
diff --git a/neutron/manager.py b/neutron/manager.py
index e6ff94ffd22..de86b777871 100644
--- a/neutron/manager.py
+++ b/neutron/manager.py
@@ -73,19 +73,6 @@ class Manager(periodic_task.PeriodicTasks):
         pass
 
 
-def validate_post_plugin_load():
-    """Checks if the configuration variables are valid.
-
-    If the configuration is invalid then the method will return an error
-    message. If all is OK then it will return None.
-    """
-    if ('dhcp_agents_per_network' in cfg.CONF and
-            cfg.CONF.dhcp_agents_per_network <= 0):
-        msg = _("dhcp_agents_per_network must be >= 1. '%s' "
-                "is invalid.") % cfg.CONF.dhcp_agents_per_network
-        return msg
-
-
 def validate_pre_plugin_load():
     """Checks if the configuration variables are valid.
 
@@ -135,10 +122,6 @@ class NeutronManager(object):
         plugin = self._get_plugin_instance(CORE_PLUGINS_NAMESPACE,
                                            plugin_provider)
         directory.add_plugin(lib_const.CORE, plugin)
-        msg = validate_post_plugin_load()
-        if msg:
-            LOG.critical(msg)
-            raise Exception(msg)
 
         # load services from the core plugin first
         self._load_services_from_core_plugin(plugin)
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_manager.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_manager.py
index efe2f486ffb..8a1403dbabf 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_manager.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_manager.py
@@ -217,17 +217,10 @@ class NeutronManagerTestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
         svc_plugins = directory.get_plugins()
         self.assertIn(dummy_plugin.DUMMY_SERVICE_TYPE, svc_plugins)
 
-    def test_post_plugin_validation(self):
-        cfg.CONF.import_opt('dhcp_agents_per_network',
-                            'neutron.db.agentschedulers_db')
-
-        self.assertIsNone(manager.validate_post_plugin_load())
-        cfg.CONF.set_override('dhcp_agents_per_network', 2)
-        self.assertIsNone(manager.validate_post_plugin_load())
-        cfg.CONF.set_override('dhcp_agents_per_network', 0)
-        self.assertIsNotNone(manager.validate_post_plugin_load())
-        cfg.CONF.set_override('dhcp_agents_per_network', -1)
-        self.assertIsNotNone(manager.validate_post_plugin_load())
+    def test_dhcp_agents_per_network_min(self):
+        # Ensures dhcp_agents_per_network must be at least 1.
+        self.assertRaises(ValueError, cfg.CONF.set_override,
+                          'dhcp_agents_per_network', 0)
 
     def test_pre_plugin_validation(self):
         self.assertIsNotNone(manager.validate_pre_plugin_load())