diff --git a/examples/ansible.cfg b/examples/ansible.cfg
index f543b2e4bc6..2edbe361b0b 100644
--- a/examples/ansible.cfg
+++ b/examples/ansible.cfg
@@ -59,11 +59,6 @@ timeout = 10
 # this can also be set to 'merge'.
 #hash_behaviour = replace
 
-# How to handle variable replacement - as of 1.2, Jinja2 variable syntax is
-# preferred, but we still support the old $variable replacement too.
-# Turn off ${old_style} variables here if you like.
-#legacy_playbook_variables = yes
-
 # list any Jinja2 extensions to enable here:
 #jinja2_extensions = jinja2.ext.do,jinja2.ext.i18n
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/constants.py b/lib/ansible/constants.py
index 431e6eb742d..94070f641f2 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/constants.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/constants.py
@@ -127,7 +127,6 @@ DEFAULT_SUDO              = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'sudo', 'ANSIBLE_SUDO', Fals
 DEFAULT_SUDO_EXE          = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'sudo_exe', 'ANSIBLE_SUDO_EXE', 'sudo')
 DEFAULT_SUDO_FLAGS        = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'sudo_flags', 'ANSIBLE_SUDO_FLAGS', '-H')
 DEFAULT_HASH_BEHAVIOUR    = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'hash_behaviour', 'ANSIBLE_HASH_BEHAVIOUR', 'replace')
-DEFAULT_LEGACY_PLAYBOOK_VARIABLES = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'legacy_playbook_variables', 'ANSIBLE_LEGACY_PLAYBOOK_VARIABLES', True, boolean=True)
 DEFAULT_JINJA2_EXTENSIONS = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'jinja2_extensions', 'ANSIBLE_JINJA2_EXTENSIONS', None)
 DEFAULT_EXECUTABLE        = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'executable', 'ANSIBLE_EXECUTABLE', '/bin/sh')
 DEFAULT_SU_EXE = get_config(p, DEFAULTS, 'su_exe', 'ANSIBLE_SU_EXE', 'su')