diff --git a/bitbake/bin/bitbake b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
index 9580784e55..65739106be 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/bitbake
+++ b/bitbake/bin/bitbake
@@ -55,19 +55,6 @@ class BBConfiguration(object):
         self.pkgs_to_build = []
 
 
-def print_exception(exc, value, tb):
-    """
-    Print the exception to stderr, only showing the traceback if bitbake
-    debugging is enabled.
-    """
-    if not bb.msg.debug_level[bb.msg.domain.Default]:
-        tb = None
-
-    sys.__excepthook__(exc, value, tb)
-
-sys.excepthook = print_exception
-
-
 _warnings_showwarning = warnings.showwarning
 def _showwarning(message, category, filename, lineno, file=None, line=None):
     """Display python warning messages using bb.msg"""