diff --git a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
index ee214b930..bd8b44025 100755
--- a/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
+++ b/scripts/build-remote.pl.in
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ sub all { $_ || return 0 for @_; 1 }
 # Initialisation.
 my $loadIncreased = 0;
 
-my ($localSystem, $maxSilentTime, $printBuildTrace, $buildTimeout) = @ARGV;
+my ($localSystem, $maxSilentTime, $buildTimeout) = @ARGV;
 
 my $currentLoad = $ENV{"NIX_CURRENT_LOAD"} // "/run/nix/current-load";
 my $conf = $ENV{"NIX_REMOTE_SYSTEMS"} // "@sysconfdir@/nix/machines";
@@ -223,9 +223,6 @@ my @inputs = split /\s/, readline(STDIN);
 my @outputs = split /\s/, readline(STDIN);
 
 
-print STDERR "@ build-remote $drvPath $hostName\n" if $printBuildTrace;
-
-
 my $maybeSign = "";
 $maybeSign = "--sign" if -e "$Nix::Config::confDir/signing-key.sec";
 
@@ -259,13 +256,11 @@ close UPLOADLOCK;
 
 # Perform the build.
 print STDERR "building ‘$drvPath’ on ‘$hostName’\n";
-print STDERR "@ build-remote-start $drvPath $hostName\n" if $printBuildTrace;
 writeInt(6, $to) or die; # == cmdBuildPaths
 writeStrings([$drvPath], $to);
 writeInt($maxSilentTime, $to);
 writeInt($buildTimeout, $to);
 my $res = readInt($from);
-print STDERR "@ build-remote-done $drvPath $hostName\n" if $printBuildTrace;
 if ($res != 0) {
     my $msg = decode("utf-8", readString($from));
     print STDERR "error: $msg on ‘$hostName’\n";
diff --git a/src/libmain/shared.cc b/src/libmain/shared.cc
index e9d000d41..0d9f9af73 100644
--- a/src/libmain/shared.cc
+++ b/src/libmain/shared.cc
@@ -173,9 +173,6 @@ struct LegacyArgs : public MixCommonArgs
         mkFlag('Q', "no-build-output", "do not show build output",
             &settings.buildVerbosity, lvlVomit);
 
-        mkFlag(0, "print-build-trace", "emit special build trace message",
-            &settings.printBuildTrace);
-
         mkFlag('K', "keep-failed", "keep temporary directories of failed builds",
             &settings.keepFailed);
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index 82275c269..f680b3737 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -633,7 +633,6 @@ HookInstance::HookInstance()
             baseNameOf(buildHook),
             settings.thisSystem,
             (format("%1%") % settings.maxSilentTime).str(),
-            (format("%1%") % settings.printBuildTrace).str(),
             (format("%1%") % settings.buildTimeout).str()
         };
 
@@ -960,8 +959,6 @@ void DerivationGoal::killChild()
 
 void DerivationGoal::timedOut()
 {
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-failed %1% - timeout") % drvPath);
     killChild();
     done(BuildResult::TimedOut);
 }
@@ -1362,9 +1359,6 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
         printMsg(lvlError, e.msg());
         outputLocks.unlock();
         buildUser.release();
-        if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-failed %1% - %2% %3%")
-                % drvPath % 0 % e.msg());
         worker.permanentFailure = true;
         done(BuildResult::InputRejected, e.msg());
         return;
@@ -1517,23 +1511,13 @@ void DerivationGoal::buildDone()
 
         BuildResult::Status st = BuildResult::MiscFailure;
 
-        if (hook && WIFEXITED(status) && WEXITSTATUS(status) == 101) {
-            if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-                printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-failed %1% - timeout") % drvPath);
+        if (hook && WIFEXITED(status) && WEXITSTATUS(status) == 101)
             st = BuildResult::TimedOut;
-        }
 
         else if (hook && (!WIFEXITED(status) || WEXITSTATUS(status) != 100)) {
-            if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-                printMsg(lvlError, format("@ hook-failed %1% - %2% %3%")
-                    % drvPath % status % e.msg());
         }
 
         else {
-            if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-                printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-failed %1% - %2% %3%")
-                    % drvPath % 1 % e.msg());
-
             st =
                 dynamic_cast<NotDeterministic*>(&e) ? BuildResult::NotDeterministic :
                 statusOk(status) ? BuildResult::OutputRejected :
@@ -1548,9 +1532,6 @@ void DerivationGoal::buildDone()
     /* Release the build user, if applicable. */
     buildUser.release();
 
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-succeeded %1% -") % drvPath);
-
     done(BuildResult::Built);
 }
 
@@ -1627,10 +1608,6 @@ HookReply DerivationGoal::tryBuildHook()
     fds.insert(hook->builderOut.readSide);
     worker.childStarted(shared_from_this(), hook->pid, fds, false, false);
 
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-started %1% - %2% %3%")
-            % drvPath % drv->platform % logFile);
-
     return rpAccept;
 }
 
@@ -1661,8 +1638,6 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
 
     /* Right platform? */
     if (!drv->canBuildLocally()) {
-        if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("@ unsupported-platform %1% %2%") % drvPath % drv->platform);
         throw Error(
             format("a ‘%1%’ is required to build ‘%3%’, but I am a ‘%2%’")
             % drv->platform % settings.thisSystem % drvPath);
@@ -2177,11 +2152,6 @@ void DerivationGoal::startBuilder()
         }
         printMsg(lvlDebug, msg);
     }
-
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace) {
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ build-started %1% - %2% %3%")
-            % drvPath % drv->platform % logFile);
-    }
 }
 
 
@@ -3107,8 +3077,6 @@ SubstitutionGoal::~SubstitutionGoal()
 
 void SubstitutionGoal::timedOut()
 {
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ substituter-failed %1% timeout") % storePath);
     if (pid != -1) {
         pid_t savedPid = pid;
         pid.kill();
@@ -3283,9 +3251,6 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::tryToRun()
         pid, singleton<set<int> >(logPipe.readSide), true, true);
 
     state = &SubstitutionGoal::finished;
-
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ substituter-started %1% %2%") % storePath % sub);
 }
 
 
@@ -3341,11 +3306,6 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::finished()
 
         printMsg(lvlInfo, e.msg());
 
-        if (settings.printBuildTrace) {
-            printMsg(lvlError, format("@ substituter-failed %1% %2% %3%")
-                % storePath % status % e.msg());
-        }
-
         /* Try the next substitute. */
         state = &SubstitutionGoal::tryNext;
         worker.wakeUp(shared_from_this());
@@ -3374,9 +3334,6 @@ void SubstitutionGoal::finished()
     printMsg(lvlChatty,
         format("substitution of path ‘%1%’ succeeded") % storePath);
 
-    if (settings.printBuildTrace)
-        printMsg(lvlError, format("@ substituter-succeeded %1%") % storePath);
-
     amDone(ecSuccess);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index b60782533..f4c41d715 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ Settings::Settings()
     maxSilentTime = 0;
     buildTimeout = 0;
     useBuildHook = true;
-    printBuildTrace = false;
     reservedSize = 8 * 1024 * 1024;
     fsyncMetadata = true;
     useSQLiteWAL = true;
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.hh b/src/libstore/globals.hh
index 9c175a5ae..8fa49e2dc 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.hh
@@ -115,22 +115,6 @@ struct Settings {
        users want to disable this from the command-line. */
     bool useBuildHook;
 
-    /* Whether buildDerivations() should print out lines on stderr in
-       a fixed format to allow its progress to be monitored.  Each
-       line starts with a "@".  The following are defined:
-
-       @ build-started <drvpath> <outpath> <system> <logfile>
-       @ build-failed <drvpath> <outpath> <exitcode> <error text>
-       @ build-succeeded <drvpath> <outpath>
-       @ substituter-started <outpath> <substituter>
-       @ substituter-failed <outpath> <exitcode> <error text>
-       @ substituter-succeeded <outpath>
-
-       Best combined with --no-build-output, otherwise stderr might
-       conceivably contain lines in this format printed by the
-       builders. */
-    bool printBuildTrace;
-
     /* Amount of reserved space for the garbage collector
        (/nix/var/nix/db/reserved). */
     off_t reservedSize;
diff --git a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
index 184f07bfd..831f4a83e 100644
--- a/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/remote-store.cc
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ void RemoteStore::setOptions(ref<Connection> conn)
     if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn->daemonVersion) >= 4)
         conn->to << settings.buildVerbosity
                  << 0 // obsolete log type
-                 << settings.printBuildTrace;
+                 << 0 /* obsolete print build trace */;
     if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn->daemonVersion) >= 6)
         conn->to << settings.buildCores;
     if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn->daemonVersion) >= 10)
diff --git a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
index 39eb17bce..fbac852e0 100644
--- a/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
+++ b/src/nix-daemon/nix-daemon.cc
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ static void performOp(ref<LocalStore> store, bool trusted, unsigned int clientVe
         if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(clientVersion) >= 4) {
             settings.buildVerbosity = (Verbosity) readInt(from);
             readInt(from); // obsolete logType
-            settings.printBuildTrace = readInt(from) != 0;
+            readInt(from); // obsolete printBuildTrace
         }
         if (GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(clientVersion) >= 6)
             settings.set("build-cores", std::to_string(readInt(from)));