diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 626ba4a9a..c968d744e 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ CWARNFLAGS=${CWARNFLAGS:--Werror -Wall -Wundef -Wmissing-prototypes -Wmissing-de
 CDEBUGFLAGS=${CDEBUGFLAGS:--std=gnu11 -g -fstack-protector}
 DEVELOPER=${DEVELOPER:-0}
 EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES=${EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES:-0}
-PLUGINS=${PLUGINS:-0}
 COMPAT=${COMPAT:-1}
 STATIC=${STATIC:-0}
 CONFIGURATOR_CC=${CONFIGURATOR_CC:-$CC}
@@ -56,10 +55,6 @@ usage()
     echo "    Compatibility mode, good to disable to see if your software breaks"
     usage_with_default "--enable/disable-valgrind" "(autodetect)"
     echo "    Valgrind binary to use for tests"
-    usage_with_default "--enable/disable-experimental-features" "disable"
-    echo "    Experimental features (not for network use!)"
-    usage_with_default "--enable/disable-plugins" "disable"
-    echo "    Support for plugins"
     usage_with_default "--enable/disable-static" "$STATIC" "enable" "disable" 
     echo "    Static link binary"
     exit 1
@@ -118,8 +113,6 @@ for opt in "$@"; do
 	--disable-developer) DEVELOPER=0;;
 	--enable-experimental-features) EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES=1;;
 	--disable-experimental-features) EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES=0;;
-	--enable-plugins) PLUGINS=1;;
-	--disable-plugins) PLUGINS=0;;
 	--enable-compat) COMPAT=1;;
 	--disable-compat) COMPAT=0;;
 	--enable-valgrind) VALGRIND=1;;
@@ -158,7 +151,6 @@ add_var CDEBUGFLAGS "$CDEBUGFLAGS"
 add_var VALGRIND "$VALGRIND"
 add_var DEVELOPER "$DEVELOPER" $CONFIG_HEADER
 add_var EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES "$EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES" $CONFIG_HEADER
-add_var PLUGINS "$PLUGINS" $CONFIG_HEADER
 add_var COMPAT "$COMPAT" $CONFIG_HEADER
 add_var PYTEST "$PYTEST"
 add_var STATIC "$STATIC"
diff --git a/doc/PLUGINS.md b/doc/PLUGINS.md
index 6a67260da..d4cb5f6c9 100644
--- a/doc/PLUGINS.md
+++ b/doc/PLUGINS.md
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ variety of ways:
    internal events in `lightningd` and alter its behavior or inject
    custom behaviors.
    
-*Notice: you need to pass `--enable-plugins` to `./configure` to turn on plugins for now, and hooks are not yet implemented.  The API is under active development.*
+*Note: Hooks are not yet implemented, and the API is under active development.*
 
 A plugin may be written in any language, and communicates with
 `lightningd` through the plugin's `stdin` and `stdout`. JSON-RPCv2 is
diff --git a/lightningd/lightningd.c b/lightningd/lightningd.c
index 1aae333e4..37f38aff1 100644
--- a/lightningd/lightningd.c
+++ b/lightningd/lightningd.c
@@ -215,9 +215,8 @@ static struct lightningd *new_lightningd(const tal_t *ctx)
 	 *code. Here we initialize the context that will keep track and control
 	 *the plugins.
 	 */
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 	ld->plugins = plugins_new(ld, ld->log_book, ld->jsonrpc, ld);
-#endif
+
 	return ld;
 }
 
@@ -362,11 +361,10 @@ static const char *find_my_pkglibexec_path(struct lightningd *ld,
 
 	/*~ The plugin dir is in ../libexec/c-lightning/plugins, which (unlike
 	 * those given on the command line) does not need to exist. */
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 	add_plugin_dir(ld->plugins,
 		       path_join(tmpctx, pkglibexecdir, "plugins"),
 		       true);
-#endif
+
 	/*~ Sometimes take() can be more efficient, since the routine can
 	 * manipulate the string in place.  This is the case here. */
 	return path_simplify(ld, take(pkglibexecdir));
@@ -379,11 +377,9 @@ static const char *find_daemon_dir(struct lightningd *ld, const char *argv0)
 	/* If we're running in-tree, all the subdaemons are with lightningd. */
 	if (has_all_subdaemons(my_path)) {
 		/* In this case, look in ../plugins */
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 		add_plugin_dir(ld->plugins,
 			       path_join(tmpctx, my_path, "../plugins"),
 			       true);
-#endif
 		return my_path;
 	}
 
@@ -665,9 +661,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	/*~ Initialize all the plugins we just registered, so they can
 	 *  do their thing and tell us about themselves (including
 	 *  options registration). */
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 	plugins_init(ld->plugins, ld->dev_debug_subprocess);
-#endif
+
 	/*~ Handle options and config; move to .lightningd (--lightning-dir) */
 	handle_opts(ld, argc, argv);
 
@@ -767,9 +762,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	/*~ Now that the rpc path exists, we can start the plugins and they
 	 * can start talking to us. */
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 	plugins_config(ld->plugins);
-#endif
+
 	/*~ We defer --daemon until we've completed most initialization: that
 	 *  way we'll exit with an error rather than silently exiting 0, then
 	 *  realizing we can't start and forcing the confused user to read the
diff --git a/lightningd/lightningd.h b/lightningd/lightningd.h
index 9927ca818..4c1ebb286 100644
--- a/lightningd/lightningd.h
+++ b/lightningd/lightningd.h
@@ -205,9 +205,8 @@ struct lightningd {
 	bool use_proxy_always;
 	char *tor_service_password;
 	bool pure_tor_setup;
-#ifdef PLUGINS
+
 	struct plugins *plugins;
-#endif
 };
 
 const struct chainparams *get_chainparams(const struct lightningd *ld);
diff --git a/lightningd/options.c b/lightningd/options.c
index 2ef3ebaac..09a1b7719 100644
--- a/lightningd/options.c
+++ b/lightningd/options.c
@@ -318,7 +318,6 @@ static void config_register_opts(struct lightningd *ld)
 		&ld->config_filename,
 		"Specify configuration file. Relative paths will be prefixed by lightning-dir location. (default: config)");
 
-#ifdef PLUGINS
 	/* Register plugins as an early args, so we can initialize them and have
 	 * them register more command line options */
 	opt_register_early_arg("--plugin", opt_add_plugin, NULL, ld,
@@ -332,7 +331,7 @@ static void config_register_opts(struct lightningd *ld)
 	opt_register_early_arg("--disable-plugin", opt_disable_plugin,
 			       NULL, ld,
 			       "Disable a particular plugin by filename/name");
-#endif
+
 	opt_register_noarg("--daemon", opt_set_bool, &ld->daemon,
 			 "Run in the background, suppress stdout/stderr");
 	opt_register_arg("--ignore-fee-limits", opt_set_bool_arg, opt_show_bool,
diff --git a/tests/fixtures.py b/tests/fixtures.py
index 45ff3bce0..39399dfee 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ VALGRIND = os.getenv("VALGRIND", config['VALGRIND']) == "1"
 DEVELOPER = os.getenv("DEVELOPER", config['DEVELOPER']) == "1"
 TEST_DEBUG = os.getenv("TEST_DEBUG", "0") == "1"
 
+
 if TEST_DEBUG:
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG, stream=sys.stdout)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_plugin.py b/tests/test_plugin.py
index e16b33619..d76a563ab 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugin.py
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 from collections import OrderedDict
 from fixtures import *  # noqa: F401,F403
 from lightning import RpcError
-from utils import PLUGINS
 
 import pytest
 import subprocess
-import unittest
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_option_passthrough(node_factory):
     """ Ensure that registering options works.
 
@@ -35,7 +32,6 @@ def test_option_passthrough(node_factory):
     n.stop()
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_rpc_passthrough(node_factory):
     """Starting with a plugin exposes its RPC methods.
 
@@ -62,14 +58,12 @@ def test_rpc_passthrough(node_factory):
         n.rpc.fail()
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_plugin_dir(node_factory):
     """--plugin-dir works"""
     plugin_dir = 'contrib/plugins'
     node_factory.get_node(options={'plugin-dir': plugin_dir, 'greeting': 'Mars'})
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_plugin_disable(node_factory):
     """--disable-plugin works"""
     plugin_dir = 'contrib/plugins'
@@ -89,7 +83,6 @@ def test_plugin_disable(node_factory):
         n.rpc.hello(name='Sun')
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_plugin_notifications(node_factory):
     l1, l2 = node_factory.get_nodes(2, opts={'plugin': 'contrib/plugins/helloworld.py'})
 
@@ -102,7 +95,6 @@ def test_plugin_notifications(node_factory):
     l2.daemon.wait_for_log(r'Received disconnect event')
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf(not PLUGINS, "plugin subsystem requires PLUGINS flag")
 def test_failing_plugins():
     fail_plugins = [
         'contrib/plugins/fail/failtimeout.py',
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 4a00cfce1..bcc751674 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES = os.getenv("EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES", config['EXPERIMENTAL_
 TIMEOUT = int(os.getenv("TIMEOUT", "60"))
 VALGRIND = os.getenv("VALGRIND", config['VALGRIND']) == "1"
 SLOW_MACHINE = os.getenv("SLOW_MACHINE", "0") == "1"
-PLUGINS = os.getenv("PLUGINS", config['PLUGINS']) == "1"
 
 
 def wait_for(success, timeout=TIMEOUT):