diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/kindlegen.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/kindlegen.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 111f2311a8..0000000000
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/kindlegen.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,86 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-# vim:fileencoding=UTF-8:ts=4:sw=4:sta:et:sts=4:ai
-from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import,
-                        print_function)
-
-__license__   = 'GPL v3'
-__copyright__ = '2011, Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>'
-__docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
-
-import os, subprocess, shutil, tempfile
-
-from lxml import etree
-
-from calibre.constants import iswindows
-from calibre.customize.ui import plugin_for_output_format
-from calibre.ptempfile import TemporaryDirectory
-from calibre.ebooks.mobi.utils import detect_periodical
-from calibre import CurrentDir
-
-exe = 'kindlegen.exe' if iswindows else 'kindlegen'
-
-def refactor_opf(opf, is_periodical, toc):
-    with open(opf, 'rb') as f:
-        root = etree.fromstring(f.read())
-    '''
-    for spine in root.xpath('//*[local-name() = "spine" and @toc]'):
-        # Do not use the NCX toc as kindlegen requires the section structure
-        # in the TOC to be duplicated in the HTML, asinine!
-        del spine.attrib['toc']
-    '''
-    if is_periodical:
-        metadata = root.xpath('//*[local-name() = "metadata"]')[0]
-        xm = etree.SubElement(metadata, 'x-metadata')
-        xm.tail = '\n'
-        xm.text = '\n\t'
-        mobip = etree.SubElement(xm, 'output', attrib={'encoding':"utf-8",
-            'content-type':"application/x-mobipocket-subscription-magazine"})
-        mobip.tail = '\n\t'
-    with open(opf, 'wb') as f:
-        f.write(etree.tostring(root, method='xml', encoding='utf-8',
-            xml_declaration=True))
-
-
-def refactor_guide(oeb):
-    for key in list(oeb.guide):
-        if key not in ('toc', 'start', 'masthead'):
-            oeb.guide.remove(key)
-
-def run_kindlegen(opf, log):
-    log.info('Running kindlegen on MOBIML created by calibre')
-    oname = os.path.splitext(opf)[0] + '.mobi'
-    p = subprocess.Popen([exe, opf, '-c1', '-verbose', '-o', oname],
-        stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    ko = p.stdout.read()
-    returncode = p.wait()
-    log.debug('kindlegen verbose output:')
-    log.debug(ko.decode('utf-8', 'replace'))
-    log.info('kindlegen returned returncode: %d'%returncode)
-    if not os.path.exists(oname) or os.stat(oname).st_size < 100:
-        raise RuntimeError('kindlegen did not produce any output. '
-                'kindlegen return code: %d'%returncode)
-    return oname
-
-def kindlegen(oeb, opts, input_plugin, output_path):
-    is_periodical = detect_periodical(oeb.toc, oeb.log)
-    refactor_guide(oeb)
-    with TemporaryDirectory('_kindlegen_output') as tdir:
-        oeb_output = plugin_for_output_format('oeb')
-        oeb_output.convert(oeb, tdir, input_plugin, opts, oeb.log)
-        opf = [x for x in os.listdir(tdir) if x.endswith('.opf')][0]
-        refactor_opf(os.path.join(tdir, opf), is_periodical, oeb.toc)
-        try:
-            td = tempfile.gettempdir()
-            kd = os.path.join(td, 'kindlegen')
-            if os.path.exists(kd):
-                shutil.rmtree(kd)
-            shutil.copytree(tdir, kd)
-            oeb.log('kindlegen intermediate output stored in: %s'%kd)
-        except:
-            pass
-
-        with CurrentDir(tdir):
-            oname = run_kindlegen(opf, oeb.log)
-            shutil.copyfile(oname, output_path)
-
-
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/output.py
index 37f90fec98..4f5d09c894 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/output.py
@@ -55,13 +55,6 @@ class MOBIOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
                 ' specified directory. If the directory already '
                 'exists, it will be deleted.')
         ),
-        OptionRecommendation(name='kindlegen',
-            recommended_value=False,
-            help=('Use kindlegen (must be in your PATH) to generate the'
-                ' binary wrapper for the MOBI format. Useful to debug '
-                ' the calibre MOBI output.')
-        ),
-
     ])
 
     def check_for_periodical(self):
@@ -175,13 +168,9 @@ class MOBIOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
             MobiWriter
         else:
             from calibre.ebooks.mobi.writer import MobiWriter
-        if opts.kindlegen:
-            from calibre.ebooks.mobi.kindlegen import kindlegen
-            kindlegen(oeb, opts, input_plugin, output_path)
-        else:
-            writer = MobiWriter(opts,
-                            write_page_breaks_after_item=write_page_breaks_after_item)
-            writer(oeb, output_path)
+        writer = MobiWriter(opts,
+                        write_page_breaks_after_item=write_page_breaks_after_item)
+        writer(oeb, output_path)
 
         if opts.extract_to is not None:
             from calibre.ebooks.mobi.debug import inspect_mobi