diff --git a/doc/nano.1 b/doc/nano.1
index a6d61849d5486f2d762b4d2265bb130487cf4ce8..b835eb065011b5f936a891eb364379ba62d189b6 100644
--- a/doc/nano.1
+++ b/doc/nano.1
@@ -217,8 +217,7 @@ Preserve the XON and XOFF sequences (^Q and ^S) so they will be caught
 by the terminal.
 .TP
 .BR \-q ", " \-\-quiet
-Do not report errors in the \fInanorc\fP files nor ask them to be
-acknowledged by pressing Enter at startup.
+Obsolete option.  Recognized but ignored.
 .TP
 .BR \-r\ \fInumber ", " \-\-fill= \fInumber
 Hard-wrap lines at column \fInumber\fP.  If this value is 0 or less, wrapping
diff --git a/doc/nano.texi b/doc/nano.texi
index bd05a0160f83ea205f72e1c54f08134c7d13d333..aee414806b0922f309d321d12ac4ac20e76e96e1 100644
--- a/doc/nano.texi
+++ b/doc/nano.texi
@@ -335,8 +335,7 @@ sent to the editor can be stopped and started.
 
 @item -q
 @itemx --quiet
-Do not report errors in the nanorc file nor ask them to be acknowledged
-by pressing @kbd{Enter} at startup.
+Obsolete option.  Recognized but ignored.
 
 @item -r @var{number}
 @itemx --fill=@var{number}
@@ -828,9 +827,7 @@ Do quick status-bar blanking: status-bar messages will disappear after 1
 keystroke instead of 25.  Note that @option{constantshow} overrides this.
 
 @item set quiet
-When set, @command{nano} will not report errors in the nanorc file nor ask them
-to be acknowledged by pressing @kbd{Enter} at startup.  If this option is used, it
-should be placed at the top of the file to be fully effective.
+Obsolete option.  Recognized but ignored.
 
 @item set quotestr "@var{string}"
 The email-quote string, used to justify email-quoted paragraphs.  This
diff --git a/doc/nanorc.5 b/doc/nanorc.5
index 00631b02a384ca597b01cdfcfc76e27c576fd74c..2de48b9d17a580abba9b1fb7953813b9a906c34c 100644
--- a/doc/nanorc.5
+++ b/doc/nanorc.5
@@ -195,9 +195,7 @@ Do quick status-bar blanking: status-bar messages will disappear after 1
 keystroke instead of 25.  The option \fBconstantshow\fR overrides this.
 .TP
 .B set quiet
-\fBnano\fP will not report errors in the \fInanorc\fP file nor ask them
-to be acknowledged by pressing Enter at startup.  If this is used, it
-should be placed at the top of the file to be fully effective.
+Obsolete option.  Recognized but ignored.
 .TP
 .B set quotestr "\fIstring\fP"
 The email-quote string, used to justify email-quoted paragraphs.  This
diff --git a/doc/sample.nanorc.in b/doc/sample.nanorc.in
index 5801759383efb8e46471d3ec4ea47cfd8d9f7d3f..7f6218c569618d281aff6917f53160713866f4eb 100644
--- a/doc/sample.nanorc.in
+++ b/doc/sample.nanorc.in
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@
 ## its end.  For example, for the "brackets" option, ""')>]}" will match
 ## ", ', ), >, ], and }.
 
-## Silently ignore problems with unknown directives in the nanorc file.
-## Useful when your nanorc file might be read on systems with multiple
-## versions of nano installed (e.g. your home directory is on NFS).
-# set quiet
-
 ## When soft line wrapping is enabled, make it wrap lines at blanks
 ## (tabs and spaces) instead of always at the edge of the screen.
 # set atblanks
diff --git a/src/nano.c b/src/nano.c
index f4196aacfcf8febb7df0acfb4e877b01ca4541d8..3db1ee63e611c6171a6ff153870ecb3ac8c6fb76 100644
--- a/src/nano.c
+++ b/src/nano.c
@@ -880,11 +880,6 @@ void usage(void)
 	N_("Set operating directory"));
 #endif
     print_opt("-p", "--preserve", N_("Preserve XON (^Q) and XOFF (^S) keys"));
-#ifdef ENABLE_NANORC
-    if (!ISSET(RESTRICTED))
-	print_opt("-q", "--quiet",
-		N_("Silently ignore startup issues like rc file errors"));
-#endif
 #ifdef ENABLED_WRAPORJUSTIFY
     print_opt(_("-r <#cols>"), _("--fill=<#cols>"),
 	N_("Set hard-wrapping point at column #cols"));
@@ -2166,8 +2161,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		SET(PRESERVE);
 		break;
 #ifdef ENABLE_NANORC
-	    case 'q':
-		SET(QUIET);
+	    case 'q':  /* obsolete, ignored */
 		break;
 #endif
 #ifdef ENABLED_WRAPORJUSTIFY
diff --git a/src/rcfile.c b/src/rcfile.c
index 57c4db800000da3871af9b3ece685a64272a779a..8fa2f737eecd3a06cbb0da55fa747ea6c6a30e04 100644
--- a/src/rcfile.c
+++ b/src/rcfile.c
@@ -141,9 +141,6 @@ void rcfile_error(const char *msg, ...)
 {
     va_list ap;
 
-    if (ISSET(QUIET))
-	return;
-
     if (lineno > 0)
 	fprintf(stderr, _("Error in %s on line %lu: "), nanorc, (unsigned long)lineno);