diff --git a/src/dispnew.c b/src/dispnew.c
index 4cdc76f5bc..6cea3b8de6 100644
--- a/src/dispnew.c
+++ b/src/dispnew.c
@@ -6234,7 +6234,6 @@ init_display_interactive (void)
   SET_CHAR_GLYPH (space_glyph, ' ', DEFAULT_FACE_ID, 0);
   space_glyph.charpos = -1;
 
-  inverse_video = 0;
   cursor_in_echo_area = false;
 
   /* Now is the time to initialize this; it's used by init_sys_modes
@@ -6497,10 +6496,6 @@ syms_of_display (void)
 On most systems, changing this value will affect the amount of padding
 and the other strategic decisions made during redisplay.  */);
 
-  DEFVAR_BOOL ("inverse-video", inverse_video,
-	       doc: /* Non-nil means invert the entire frame display.
-This means everything is in inverse video which otherwise would not be.  */);
-
   DEFVAR_BOOL ("visible-bell", visible_bell,
 	       doc: /* Non-nil means try to flash the frame to represent a bell.
 
diff --git a/src/msdos.c b/src/msdos.c
index 1192b37a0d..e1ba6d0813 100644
--- a/src/msdos.c
+++ b/src/msdos.c
@@ -838,14 +838,6 @@ IT_set_face (int face)
       fg = bg;
       bg = tem;
     }
-  /* If the user requested inverse video, obey.  */
-  if (inverse_video)
-    {
-      unsigned long tem2 = fg;
-
-      fg = bg;
-      bg = tem2;
-    }
   if (tty->termscript)
     fprintf (tty->termscript, "<FACE %d: %lu/%lu[FG:%lu/BG:%lu]>", face,
 	     fp->foreground, fp->background, fg, bg);
diff --git a/src/term.c b/src/term.c
index 642010549b..9407385540 100644
--- a/src/term.c
+++ b/src/term.c
@@ -356,16 +356,12 @@ tty_show_cursor (struct tty_display_info *tty)
 
 
 /* Set standout mode to the state it should be in for
-   empty space inside windows.  What this is,
-   depends on the user option inverse-video.  */
+   empty space inside windows.  */
 
 static void
 tty_background_highlight (struct tty_display_info *tty)
 {
-  if (inverse_video)
-    tty_turn_on_highlight (tty);
-  else
-    tty_turn_off_highlight (tty);
+  tty_turn_off_highlight (tty);
 }
 
 /* Set standout mode to the mode specified for the text to be output.  */
@@ -373,10 +369,7 @@ tty_background_highlight (struct tty_display_info *tty)
 static void
 tty_highlight_if_desired (struct tty_display_info *tty)
 {
-  if (inverse_video)
-    tty_turn_on_highlight (tty);
-  else
-    tty_turn_off_highlight (tty);
+  tty_turn_off_highlight (tty);
 }
 
 
@@ -1909,9 +1902,7 @@ turn_on_face (struct frame *f, int face_id)
      Do this first because TS_end_standout_mode may be the same
      as TS_exit_attribute_mode, which turns all appearances off. */
   if (MAY_USE_WITH_COLORS_P (tty, NC_REVERSE)
-      && (inverse_video
-	  ? fg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_FG_COLOR || bg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_BG_COLOR
-	  : fg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_BG_COLOR || bg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_FG_COLOR))
+      && (fg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_BG_COLOR || bg == FACE_TTY_DEFAULT_FG_COLOR))
     tty_toggle_highlight (tty);
 
   if (face->tty_bold_p && MAY_USE_WITH_COLORS_P (tty, NC_BOLD))