diff --git a/cmd/prometheus/main.go b/cmd/prometheus/main.go
index 8fb6d4d38..ecf179ce5 100644
--- a/cmd/prometheus/main.go
+++ b/cmd/prometheus/main.go
@@ -190,7 +190,6 @@ type flagConfig struct {
 	queryConcurrency            int
 	queryMaxSamples             int
 	RemoteFlushDeadline         model.Duration
-	nameEscapingScheme          string
 	maxNotificationsSubscribers int
 
 	enableAutoReload   bool
@@ -551,15 +550,6 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	if cfg.nameEscapingScheme != "" {
-		scheme, err := model.ToEscapingScheme(cfg.nameEscapingScheme)
-		if err != nil {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, `Invalid name escaping scheme: %q; Needs to be one of "values", "underscores", or "dots"`, cfg.nameEscapingScheme)
-			os.Exit(1)
-		}
-		model.NameEscapingScheme = scheme
-	}
-
 	if agentMode && len(serverOnlyFlags) > 0 {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "The following flag(s) can not be used in agent mode: %q", serverOnlyFlags)
 		os.Exit(3)
diff --git a/scrape/manager.go b/scrape/manager.go
index f3dad2a04..04da3162e 100644
--- a/scrape/manager.go
+++ b/scrape/manager.go
@@ -94,8 +94,6 @@ type Options struct {
 	skipOffsetting bool
 }
 
-const DefaultNameEscapingScheme = model.ValueEncodingEscaping
-
 // Manager maintains a set of scrape pools and manages start/stop cycles
 // when receiving new target groups from the discovery manager.
 type Manager struct {