diff --git a/cmd/ipfs/init.go b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
index c3a15b97d2b..f9ef237270c 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs/init.go
+++ b/cmd/ipfs/init.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -33,9 +32,7 @@ at ~/.ipfs. To change the repo location, set the $IPFS_PATH environment variable
     export IPFS_PATH=/path/to/ipfsrepo
 `,
 	},
-	Arguments: []cmds.Argument{
-		cmds.FileArg("default-config", false, false, "Initialize with the given configuration.").EnableStdin(),
-	},
+
 	Options: []cmds.Option{
 		cmds.IntOption("bits", "b", "Number of bits to use in the generated RSA private key.").Default(nBitsForKeypairDefault),
 		cmds.BoolOption("empty-repo", "e", "Don't add and pin help files to the local storage.").Default(false),
@@ -78,24 +75,7 @@ at ~/.ipfs. To change the repo location, set the $IPFS_PATH environment variable
 			return
 		}
 
-		var conf *config.Config
-
-		f := req.Files()
-		if f != nil {
-			confFile, err := f.NextFile()
-			if err != nil {
-				res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
-				return
-			}
-
-			conf = &config.Config{}
-			if err := json.NewDecoder(confFile).Decode(conf); err != nil {
-				res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
-				return
-			}
-		}
-
-		if err := doInit(os.Stdout, req.InvocContext().ConfigRoot, empty, nBitsForKeypair, conf); err != nil {
+		if err := doInit(os.Stdout, req.InvocContext().ConfigRoot, empty, nBitsForKeypair); err != nil {
 			res.SetError(err, cmds.ErrNormal)
 			return
 		}
@@ -107,10 +87,10 @@ Reinitializing would overwrite your keys.
 `)
 
 func initWithDefaults(out io.Writer, repoRoot string) error {
-	return doInit(out, repoRoot, false, nBitsForKeypairDefault, nil)
+	return doInit(out, repoRoot, false, nBitsForKeypairDefault)
 }
 
-func doInit(out io.Writer, repoRoot string, empty bool, nBitsForKeypair int, conf *config.Config) error {
+func doInit(out io.Writer, repoRoot string, empty bool, nBitsForKeypair int) error {
 	if _, err := fmt.Fprintf(out, "initializing ipfs node at %s\n", repoRoot); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -123,12 +103,9 @@ func doInit(out io.Writer, repoRoot string, empty bool, nBitsForKeypair int, con
 		return errRepoExists
 	}
 
-	if conf == nil {
-		var err error
-		conf, err = config.Init(out, nBitsForKeypair)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
+	conf, err := config.Init(out, nBitsForKeypair)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	if err := fsrepo.Init(repoRoot, conf); err != nil {
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0022-init-default.sh b/test/sharness/t0022-init-default.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index a26910f9019..00000000000
--- a/test/sharness/t0022-init-default.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2014 Christian Couder
-# MIT Licensed; see the LICENSE file in this repository.
-#
-
-test_description="Test init command with default config"
-
-. lib/test-lib.sh
-
-cfg_key="Addresses.API"
-cfg_val="/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/5001"
-
-# test that init succeeds
-test_expect_success "ipfs init succeeds" '
-	export IPFS_PATH="$(pwd)/.ipfs" &&
-	echo "IPFS_PATH: \"$IPFS_PATH\"" &&
-	BITS="2048" &&
-	ipfs init --bits="$BITS" >actual_init ||
-	test_fsh cat actual_init
-'
-
-test_expect_success ".ipfs/config has been created" '
-	test -f "$IPFS_PATH"/config ||
-	test_fsh ls -al .ipfs
-'
-
-test_expect_success "ipfs config succeeds" '
-	ipfs config $cfg_flags "$cfg_key" "$cfg_val"
-'
-
-test_expect_success "ipfs read config succeeds" '
-    IPFS_DEFAULT_CONFIG=$(cat "$IPFS_PATH"/config)
-'
-
-test_expect_success "clean up ipfs dir" '
-	rm -rf "$IPFS_PATH"
-'
-
-test_expect_success "ipfs init default config succeeds" '
-	echo $IPFS_DEFAULT_CONFIG | ipfs init >actual_init ||
-	test_fsh cat actual_init
-'
-
-test_expect_success "ipfs config output looks good" '
-	echo "$cfg_val" >expected &&
-	ipfs config "$cfg_key" >actual &&
-	test_cmp expected actual
-'
-
-test_launch_ipfs_daemon
-
-test_kill_ipfs_daemon
-
-test_done