diff --git a/bin/nova-ajax-console-proxy b/bin/nova-ajax-console-proxy
index 64e2b17e9..a6b284987 100755
--- a/bin/nova-ajax-console-proxy
+++ b/bin/nova-ajax-console-proxy
@@ -48,9 +48,6 @@ from nova import wsgi
 FLAGS = flags.FLAGS
 flags.DEFINE_integer('ajax_console_idle_timeout', 300,
                      'Seconds before idle connection destroyed')
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpshortFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpXMLFlag())
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger('nova.ajax_console_proxy')
 
diff --git a/bin/nova-direct-api b/bin/nova-direct-api
index 106e89ba9..28cc29634 100755
--- a/bin/nova-direct-api
+++ b/bin/nova-direct-api
@@ -49,9 +49,6 @@ from nova.api import direct
 FLAGS = flags.FLAGS
 flags.DEFINE_integer('direct_port', 8001, 'Direct API port')
 flags.DEFINE_string('direct_host', '0.0.0.0', 'Direct API host')
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpshortFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpXMLFlag())
 
 
 # An example of an API that only exposes read-only methods.
diff --git a/bin/nova-manage b/bin/nova-manage
index faf585270..c4cee3184 100755
--- a/bin/nova-manage
+++ b/bin/nova-manage
@@ -107,9 +107,6 @@ flags.DECLARE('vpn_start', 'nova.network.manager')
 flags.DECLARE('default_floating_pool', 'nova.network.manager')
 flags.DECLARE('public_interface', 'nova.network.linux_net')
 flags.DECLARE('libvirt_type', 'nova.virt.libvirt.connection')
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpshortFlag())
-flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpXMLFlag())
 
 
 # Decorators for actions
diff --git a/nova/flags.py b/nova/flags.py
index d535f783f..59c44470a 100644
--- a/nova/flags.py
+++ b/nova/flags.py
@@ -226,22 +226,6 @@ def DECLARE(name, module_string, flag_values=FLAGS):
         raise UnrecognizedFlag('%s not defined by %s' % (name, module_string))
 
 
-def DEFINE_flag(flag):
-    pass
-
-
-class HelpFlag:
-    pass
-
-
-class HelpshortFlag:
-    pass
-
-
-class HelpXMLFlag:
-    pass
-
-
 def _get_my_ip():
     """Returns the actual ip of the local machine."""
     try:
diff --git a/nova/service.py b/nova/service.py
index 6ca613b0a..3b930c91c 100644
--- a/nova/service.py
+++ b/nova/service.py
@@ -384,12 +384,6 @@ def serve(*servers):
 
 
 def wait():
-    # After we've loaded up all our dynamic bits, check
-    # whether we should print help
-    flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpFlag())
-    flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpshortFlag())
-    flags.DEFINE_flag(flags.HelpXMLFlag())
-    FLAGS.ParseNewFlags()
     logging.debug(_('Full set of FLAGS:'))
     for flag in FLAGS:
         flag_get = FLAGS.get(flag, None)