diff --git a/cdist/argparse.py b/cdist/argparse.py
index 8689be79..8208d1f0 100644
--- a/cdist/argparse.py
+++ b/cdist/argparse.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ parser = None
 
 
 _verbosity_level_off = -2
-_verbosity_level_debug = 3
 _verbosity_level = {
     _verbosity_level_off: logging.OFF,
     -1: logging.ERROR,
@@ -86,10 +85,6 @@ def get_parsers():
         parser = {}
     # Options _all_ parsers have in common
     parser['loglevel'] = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
-    parser['loglevel'].add_argument(
-            '-d', '--debug',
-            help=('Set log level to debug (deprecated, use -vvv instead)'),
-            action='store_true', default=False)
     parser['loglevel'].add_argument(
             '-q', '--quiet',
             help='Quiet mode: disables logging, including WARNING and ERROR',
@@ -223,15 +218,7 @@ def get_parsers():
 
 
 def handle_loglevel(args):
-    if args.debug:
-        retval = "-d/--debug is deprecated, use -vvv instead"
-        args.verbose = _verbosity_level_debug
-    else:
-        retval = None
-
     if args.quiet:
         args.verbose = _verbosity_level_off
 
     logging.root.setLevel(_verbosity_level[args.verbose])
-
-    return retval
diff --git a/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst b/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
index dbfda34f..edcad828 100644
--- a/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
+++ b/docs/src/man1/cdist.rst
@@ -11,23 +11,23 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 ::
 
-    cdist [-h] [-d] [-v] [-V] {banner,config,shell,install} ...
+    cdist [-h] [-v] [-V] {banner,config,shell,install} ...
 
-    cdist banner [-h] [-d] [-v]
+    cdist banner [-h] [-v]
 
-    cdist config [-h] [-d] [-v] [-b] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR]
+    cdist config [-h] [-v] [-b] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR]
                  [-i MANIFEST] [-j [JOBS]] [-n] [-o OUT_PATH]
                  [--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY] [--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC]
                  [-f HOSTFILE] [-p] [-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH] [-s]
                  [host [host ...]]
 
-    cdist install [-h] [-d] [-v] [-b] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR]
+    cdist install [-h] [-v] [-b] [-C CACHE_PATH_PATTERN] [-c CONF_DIR]
                   [-i MANIFEST] [-j [JOBS]] [-n] [-o OUT_PATH]
                   [--remote-copy REMOTE_COPY] [--remote-exec REMOTE_EXEC]
                   [-f HOSTFILE] [-p] [-r REMOTE_OUT_PATH] [-s]
                   [host [host ...]]
 
-    cdist shell [-h] [-d] [-v] [-s SHELL]
+    cdist shell [-h] [-v] [-s SHELL]
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -46,10 +46,6 @@ All commands accept the following options:
 
     Show the help screen
 
-.. option:: -d, --debug
-
-    Set log level to debug (deprecated, use -vvv instead)
-
 .. option:: -q, --quiet
 
     Quiet mode: disables logging, including WARNING and ERROR
@@ -211,7 +207,7 @@ EXAMPLES
 .. code-block:: sh
 
     # Configure ikq05.ethz.ch with debug enabled
-    % cdist config -d ikq05.ethz.ch
+    % cdist config -vvv ikq05.ethz.ch
 
     # Configure hosts in parallel and use a different configuration directory
     % cdist config -c ~/p/cdist-nutzung \
@@ -245,7 +241,7 @@ EXAMPLES
                  [--group GROUP] [--owner OWNER] [--mode MODE] object_id
 
     # Install ikq05.ethz.ch with debug enabled
-    % cdist install -d ikq05.ethz.ch
+    % cdist install -vvv ikq05.ethz.ch
 
 ENVIRONMENT
 -----------
diff --git a/scripts/cdist b/scripts/cdist
index 605c5a6c..b55091f9 100755
--- a/scripts/cdist
+++ b/scripts/cdist
@@ -40,12 +40,10 @@ def commandline():
     args = parser['main'].parse_args(sys.argv[1:])
 
     # Loglevels are handled globally in here
-    retval = cdist.argparse.handle_loglevel(args)
-    if retval:
-        log.warning(retval)
+    cdist.argparse.handle_loglevel(args)
 
-    log.trace(args)
     log.info("version %s" % cdist.VERSION)
+    log.trace(args)
 
     # Work around python 3.3 bug:
     # http://bugs.python.org/issue16308