diff --git a/doc/Settings.md b/doc/Settings.md
index 9590ad42d6..5055ed7d23 100644
--- a/doc/Settings.md
+++ b/doc/Settings.md
@@ -152,13 +152,6 @@ Value is in seconds.
Default is 60 seconds.
Set to 0 for unlimited (not recommended).
-#### UTF-8 Regular Expressions
-
-During registrations, full names are checked using UTF-8 regular expressions.
-This requires PHP to have been compiled with a special setting to allow UTF-8 expressions.
-If you are completely unable to register accounts, set no_utf to true.
-The default is set to false (meaning UTF8 regular expressions are supported and working).
-
#### Verify SSL Certitificates
By default Friendica allows SSL communication between websites that have "self-signed" SSL certificates.
diff --git a/include/user.php b/include/user.php
index df871c5468..cd77707dd0 100644
--- a/include/user.php
+++ b/include/user.php
@@ -97,13 +97,6 @@ function create_user($arr) {
if(mb_strlen($username) < 3)
$result['message'] .= t('Name too short.') . EOL;
- // I don't really like having this rule, but it cuts down
- // on the number of auto-registrations by Russian spammers
-
- // Using preg_match was completely unreliable, due to mixed UTF-8 regex support
- // $no_utf = get_config('system','no_utf');
- // $pat = (($no_utf) ? '/^[a-zA-Z]* [a-zA-Z]*$/' : '/^\p{L}* \p{L}*$/u' );
-
// So now we are just looking for a space in the full name.
$loose_reg = get_config('system','no_regfullname');
diff --git a/mod/admin.php b/mod/admin.php
index 77093f0859..aee1017b34 100644
--- a/mod/admin.php
+++ b/mod/admin.php
@@ -629,7 +629,6 @@ function admin_page_site_post(App $a) {
$no_multi_reg = ((x($_POST,'no_multi_reg')) ? True : False);
$no_openid = !((x($_POST,'no_openid')) ? True : False);
$no_regfullname = !((x($_POST,'no_regfullname')) ? True : False);
- $no_utf = !((x($_POST,'no_utf')) ? True : False);
$community_page_style = ((x($_POST,'community_page_style')) ? intval(trim($_POST['community_page_style'])) : 0);
$max_author_posts_community_page = ((x($_POST,'max_author_posts_community_page')) ? intval(trim($_POST['max_author_posts_community_page'])) : 0);
@@ -786,7 +785,6 @@ function admin_page_site_post(App $a) {
set_config('system','no_regfullname', $no_regfullname);
set_config('system','community_page_style', $community_page_style);
set_config('system','max_author_posts_community_page', $max_author_posts_community_page);
- set_config('system','no_utf', $no_utf);
set_config('system','verifyssl', $verifyssl);
set_config('system','proxyuser', $proxyuser);
set_config('system','proxy', $proxy);
@@ -1008,7 +1006,6 @@ function admin_page_site(App $a) {
'$no_multi_reg' => array('no_multi_reg', t("Block multiple registrations"), get_config('system','block_extended_register'), t("Disallow users to register additional accounts for use as pages.")),
'$no_openid' => array('no_openid', t("OpenID support"), !get_config('system','no_openid'), t("OpenID support for registration and logins.")),
'$no_regfullname' => array('no_regfullname', t("Fullname check"), !get_config('system','no_regfullname'), t("Force users to register with a space between firstname and lastname in Full name, as an antispam measure")),
- '$no_utf' => array('no_utf', t("UTF-8 Regular expressions"), !get_config('system','no_utf'), t("Use PHP UTF8 regular expressions")),
'$community_page_style' => array('community_page_style', t("Community Page Style"), get_config('system','community_page_style'), t("Type of community page to show. 'Global community' shows every public posting from an open distributed network that arrived on this server."), $community_page_style_choices),
'$max_author_posts_community_page' => array('max_author_posts_community_page', t("Posts per user on community page"), get_config('system','max_author_posts_community_page'), t("The maximum number of posts per user on the community page. (Not valid for 'Global Community')")),
'$ostatus_disabled' => array('ostatus_disabled', t("Enable OStatus support"), !get_config('system','ostatus_disabled'), t("Provide built-in OStatus \x28StatusNet, GNU Social etc.\x29 compatibility. All communications in OStatus are public, so privacy warnings will be occasionally displayed.")),
diff --git a/view/templates/admin_site.tpl b/view/templates/admin_site.tpl
index 138d04311b..86efb26a22 100644
--- a/view/templates/admin_site.tpl
+++ b/view/templates/admin_site.tpl
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@