diff --git a/etc/nova/README-policy.json.txt b/etc/nova/README-policy.json.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..23b64bea9536
--- /dev/null
+++ b/etc/nova/README-policy.json.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+To generate the sample policy.json file, run the following command from the top
+level of the nova directory:
+
+    tox -egenpolicy
diff --git a/etc/nova/policy.json b/etc/nova/policy.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 2c63c0851048..000000000000
--- a/etc/nova/policy.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-{
-}
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/test_policy.py b/nova/tests/unit/test_policy.py
index 0238ac584938..22eb66c57f5b 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/test_policy.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/test_policy.py
@@ -537,19 +537,6 @@ class RealRolePolicyTestCase(test.NoDBTestCase):
             policy.authorize(self.non_admin_context, rule,
                            {'project_id': 'fake', 'user_id': 'fake'})
 
-    def test_no_empty_rules(self):
-        # Parsed rules substitute '@' for '', so we need to look at the raw
-        # policy definitions
-        # CONF.oslo_policy.policy_file has been set to the sample file by
-        # the RealPolicyFixture used in setUp
-        with open(CONF.oslo_policy.policy_file, 'r') as policy_file:
-            policy_dict = jsonutils.loads(policy_file.read())
-
-        for rule_name, rule in policy_dict.items():
-            self.assertNotEqual('', str(rule),
-                    '%s should not be empty, use "@" instead if the policy '
-                    'should allow everything' % rule_name)
-
     def test_allow_all_rules(self):
         for rule in self.allow_all_rules:
             policy.authorize(self.non_admin_context, rule, self.target)