diff --git a/src/core/display.c b/src/core/display.c
index f49ffb888..5ee3e3a1a 100644
--- a/src/core/display.c
+++ b/src/core/display.c
@@ -2524,12 +2524,6 @@ event_callback (XEvent   *event,
                       meta_workspace_focus_default_window (screen->active_workspace, NULL, timestamp);
                     }
                 }
-              else if (event->xclient.message_type ==
-                       display->atom__MUTTER_RESTART_MESSAGE)
-                {
-                  meta_verbose ("Received restart request\n");
-                  meta_restart ();
-                }
               else if (event->xclient.message_type ==
                        display->atom__MUTTER_RELOAD_THEME_MESSAGE)
                 {
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 62790ccdb..970e83179 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -89,12 +89,6 @@ static MetaExitCode meta_exit_code = META_EXIT_SUCCESS;
  */
 static GMainLoop *meta_main_loop = NULL;
 
-/**
- * If set, Mutter will spawn an identical copy of itself immediately
- * before quitting.
- */
-static gboolean meta_restart_after_quit = FALSE;
-
 static void prefs_changed_callback (MetaPreference pref,
                                     gpointer       data);
 
@@ -697,36 +691,15 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   meta_finalize ();
 
-  if (meta_restart_after_quit)
-    {
-      GError *err;
-
-      err = NULL;
-      if (!g_spawn_async (NULL,
-                          argv,
-                          NULL,
-                          G_SPAWN_SEARCH_PATH,
-                          NULL,
-                          NULL,
-                          NULL,
-                          &err))
-        {
-          meta_fatal (_("Failed to restart: %s\n"),
-                      err->message);
-          g_error_free (err); /* not reached anyhow */
-          meta_exit_code = META_EXIT_ERROR;
-        }
-    }
-  
   return meta_exit_code;
 }
 
 /**
- * Stops Mutter. This tells the event loop to stop processing; it is rather
- * dangerous to use this rather than meta_restart() because this will leave
- * the user with no window manager. We generally do this only if, for example,
- * the session manager asks us to; we assume the session manager knows what
- * it's talking about.
+ * Stops Mutter. This tells the event loop to stop processing; it is
+ * rather dangerous to use this because this will leave the user with
+ * no window manager. We generally do this only if, for example, the
+ * session manager asks us to; we assume the session manager knows
+ * what it's talking about.
  *
  * \param code The success or failure code to return to the calling process.
  */
@@ -739,19 +712,6 @@ meta_quit (MetaExitCode code)
     g_main_loop_quit (meta_main_loop);
 }
 
-/**
- * Restarts Mutter. In practice, this tells the event loop to stop
- * processing, having first set the meta_restart_after_quit flag which
- * tells Mutter to spawn an identical copy of itself before quitting.
- * This happens on receipt of a _MUTTER_RESTART_MESSAGE client event.
- */
-void
-meta_restart (void)
-{
-  meta_restart_after_quit = TRUE;
-  meta_quit (META_EXIT_SUCCESS);
-}
-
 /**
  * Called on pref changes. (One of several functions of its kind and purpose.)
  *
diff --git a/src/include/atomnames.h b/src/include/atomnames.h
index 01e099e37..012049624 100644
--- a/src/include/atomnames.h
+++ b/src/include/atomnames.h
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ item(WM_WINDOW_ROLE)
 item(UTF8_STRING)
 item(WM_ICON_SIZE)
 item(_KWM_WIN_ICON)
-item(_MUTTER_RESTART_MESSAGE)
 item(_MUTTER_RELOAD_THEME_MESSAGE)
 item(_MUTTER_SET_KEYBINDINGS_MESSAGE)
 item(_MUTTER_TOGGLE_VERBOSE)
diff --git a/src/include/main.h b/src/include/main.h
index 043f9d77d..b0c8dc8ec 100644
--- a/src/include/main.h
+++ b/src/include/main.h
@@ -38,6 +38,4 @@ void meta_exit (MetaExitCode code);
 /* g_main_loop_quit() then fall out of main() */
 void meta_quit (MetaExitCode code);
 
-void meta_restart (void);
-
 #endif
diff --git a/src/tools/mutter-message.c b/src/tools/mutter-message.c
index 4aed444ca..5b93597bc 100644
--- a/src/tools/mutter-message.c
+++ b/src/tools/mutter-message.c
@@ -31,34 +31,6 @@
 
 static Display *display;
 
-static void
-send_restart (void)
-{
-  XEvent xev;
-
-  xev.xclient.type = ClientMessage;
-  xev.xclient.serial = 0;
-  xev.xclient.send_event = True;
-  xev.xclient.display = display;
-  xev.xclient.window = gdk_x11_get_default_root_xwindow ();
-  xev.xclient.message_type = XInternAtom (display,
-                                          "_MUTTER_RESTART_MESSAGE",
-                                          False);
-  xev.xclient.format = 32;
-  xev.xclient.data.l[0] = 0;
-  xev.xclient.data.l[1] = 0;
-  xev.xclient.data.l[2] = 0;
-
-  XSendEvent (display,
-              gdk_x11_get_default_root_xwindow (),
-              False,
-	      SubstructureRedirectMask | SubstructureNotifyMask,
-	      &xev);
-
-  XFlush (display);
-  XSync (display, False);
-}
-
 static void
 send_reload_theme (void)
 {
@@ -149,7 +121,7 @@ static void
 usage (void)
 {
   g_printerr (_("Usage: %s\n"),
-              "mutter-message (restart|reload-theme|enable-keybindings|disable-keybindings|toggle-verbose)");
+              "mutter-message (reload-theme|enable-keybindings|disable-keybindings|toggle-verbose)");
   exit (1);
 }
 
@@ -165,9 +137,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   display = GDK_DISPLAY_XDISPLAY (gdk_display_get_default ());
 
-  if (strcmp (argv[1], "restart") == 0)
-    send_restart ();
-  else if (strcmp (argv[1], "reload-theme") == 0)
+  if (strcmp (argv[1], "reload-theme") == 0)
     send_reload_theme ();
   else if (strcmp (argv[1], "enable-keybindings") == 0)
     send_set_keybindings (TRUE);