diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e1806c2f..811e5dd4 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -35,11 +35,6 @@ Top level option to specify configuration file
   It's now possible to specify the configuration file to use on the
   command line using the `notmuch --config=FILE` option.
 
-Top level option to redirect writes to stderr
-
-  With `notmuch --stderr=FILE` all writes to stderr are redirected to
-  the specified file. If FILE is '-', stderr is redirected to stdout.
-
 Deprecated commands "part" and "search-tags" are removed.
 
 Bash command-line completion
diff --git a/man/man1/notmuch.1 b/man/man1/notmuch.1
index f5ca0ade..033cc107 100644
--- a/man/man1/notmuch.1
+++ b/man/man1/notmuch.1
@@ -76,14 +76,7 @@ Print the installed version of notmuch, and exit.
 
 Specify the configuration file to use. This overrides any
 configuration file specified by ${NOTMUCH_CONFIG}.
-.RE
 
-.RS 4
-.TP 4
-.B \-\-stderr=FILE
-
-Redirect all writes to stderr to the specified file.
-If FILE is '-', stderr is redirected to stdout.
 .RE
 
 .SH COMMANDS
diff --git a/notmuch-client.h b/notmuch-client.h
index 4a3c7ac9..45749a6b 100644
--- a/notmuch-client.h
+++ b/notmuch-client.h
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ typedef GMimeCipherContext notmuch_crypto_context_t;
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
-#include <fcntl.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <signal.h>
diff --git a/notmuch.c b/notmuch.c
index 45a73ce0..ffe8f7e0 100644
--- a/notmuch.c
+++ b/notmuch.c
@@ -238,32 +238,6 @@ notmuch_command (notmuch_config_t *config,
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int
-redirect_stderr (const char * stderr_file)
-{
-    if (strcmp (stderr_file, "-") == 0) {
-	if (dup2 (STDOUT_FILENO, STDERR_FILENO) < 0) {
-	    perror ("dup2");
-	    return 1;
-	}
-    } else {
-	int fd = open (stderr_file, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC, 0666);
-	if (fd < 0) {
-	    fprintf (stderr, "Error: Cannot redirect stderr to '%s': %s\n",
-		     stderr_file, strerror (errno));
-	    return 1;
-	}
-	if (fd != STDERR_FILENO) {
-	    if (dup2 (fd, STDERR_FILENO) < 0) {
-		perror ("dup2");
-		return 1;
-	    }
-	    close (fd);
-	}
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
 int
 main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
@@ -272,7 +246,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
     const char *command_name = NULL;
     command_t *command;
     char *config_file_name = NULL;
-    char *stderr_file = NULL;
     notmuch_config_t *config;
     notmuch_bool_t print_help=FALSE, print_version=FALSE;
     int opt_index;
@@ -282,7 +255,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	{ NOTMUCH_OPT_BOOLEAN, &print_help, "help", 'h', 0 },
 	{ NOTMUCH_OPT_BOOLEAN, &print_version, "version", 'v', 0 },
 	{ NOTMUCH_OPT_STRING, &config_file_name, "config", 'c', 0 },
-	{ NOTMUCH_OPT_STRING, &stderr_file, "stderr", '\0', 0 },
 	{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }
     };
 
@@ -304,10 +276,6 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	return 1;
     }
 
-    if (stderr_file && redirect_stderr (stderr_file) != 0) {
-	/* error already printed */
-	return 1;
-    }
     if (print_help)
 	return notmuch_help_command (NULL, argc - 1, &argv[1]);
 
diff --git a/test/help-test b/test/help-test
index bd0111c9..f7df725e 100755
--- a/test/help-test
+++ b/test/help-test
@@ -9,13 +9,4 @@ test_expect_success 'notmuch help' 'notmuch help'
 test_expect_success 'notmuch help tag' 'notmuch help tag'
 test_expect_success 'notmuch --version' 'notmuch --version'
 
-test_begin_subtest "notmuch --stderr=stderr help %"
-notmuch --stderr=stderr help %
-test_expect_equal "$(cat stderr)" "
-Sorry, % is not a known command. There's not much I can do to help."
-
-test_begin_subtest "notmuch --stderr=- help %"
-test_expect_equal "$(notmuch --stderr=- help %)" "
-Sorry, % is not a known command. There's not much I can do to help."
-
 test_done