diff --git a/Documentation/config/branch.txt b/Documentation/config/branch.txt
index cc5f3249fc..d323d7327f 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/branch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/branch.txt
@@ -85,10 +85,6 @@ When `merges` (or just 'm'), pass the `--rebase-merges` option to 'git rebase'
 so that the local merge commits are included in the rebase (see
 linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details).
 +
-When `preserve` (or just 'p', deprecated in favor of `merges`), also pass
-`--preserve-merges` along to 'git rebase' so that locally committed merge
-commits will not be flattened by running 'git pull'.
-+
 When the value is `interactive` (or just 'i'), the rebase is run in interactive
 mode.
 +
diff --git a/Documentation/config/pull.txt b/Documentation/config/pull.txt
index 5404830609..9349e09261 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/pull.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config/pull.txt
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@ When `merges` (or just 'm'), pass the `--rebase-merges` option to 'git rebase'
 so that the local merge commits are included in the rebase (see
 linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details).
 +
-When `preserve` (or just 'p', deprecated in favor of `merges`), also pass
-`--preserve-merges` along to 'git rebase' so that locally committed merge
-commits will not be flattened by running 'git pull'.
-+
 When the value is `interactive` (or just 'i'), the rebase is run in interactive
 mode.
 +
diff --git a/Documentation/git-pull.txt b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
index 7f4b2d1982..7144690a0c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pull.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ Options related to merging
 include::merge-options.txt[]
 
 -r::
---rebase[=false|true|merges|preserve|interactive]::
+--rebase[=false|true|merges|interactive]::
 	When true, rebase the current branch on top of the upstream
 	branch after fetching. If there is a remote-tracking branch
 	corresponding to the upstream branch and the upstream branch
@@ -113,10 +113,6 @@ When set to `merges`, rebase using `git rebase --rebase-merges` so that
 the local merge commits are included in the rebase (see
 linkgit:git-rebase[1] for details).
 +
-When set to `preserve` (deprecated in favor of `merges`), rebase with the
-`--preserve-merges` option passed to `git rebase` so that locally created
-merge commits will not be flattened.
-+
 When false, merge the upstream branch into the current branch.
 +
 When `interactive`, enable the interactive mode of rebase.
diff --git a/builtin/pull.c b/builtin/pull.c
index 3e13f81084..bda5c32ab6 100644
--- a/builtin/pull.c
+++ b/builtin/pull.c
@@ -30,9 +30,8 @@
 /**
  * Parses the value of --rebase. If value is a false value, returns
  * REBASE_FALSE. If value is a true value, returns REBASE_TRUE. If value is
- * "merges", returns REBASE_MERGES. If value is "preserve", returns
- * REBASE_PRESERVE. If value is a invalid value, dies with a fatal error if
- * fatal is true, otherwise returns REBASE_INVALID.
+ * "merges", returns REBASE_MERGES. If value is a invalid value, dies with
+ * a fatal error if fatal is true, otherwise returns REBASE_INVALID.
  */
 static enum rebase_type parse_config_rebase(const char *key, const char *value,
 		int fatal)
@@ -126,7 +125,7 @@ static struct option pull_options[] = {
 	/* Options passed to git-merge or git-rebase */
 	OPT_GROUP(N_("Options related to merging")),
 	OPT_CALLBACK_F('r', "rebase", &opt_rebase,
-		"(false|true|merges|preserve|interactive)",
+		"(false|true|merges|interactive)",
 		N_("incorporate changes by rebasing rather than merging"),
 		PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, parse_opt_rebase),
 	OPT_PASSTHRU('n', NULL, &opt_diffstat, NULL,
@@ -883,8 +882,6 @@ static int run_rebase(const struct object_id *newbase,
 	/* Options passed to git-rebase */
 	if (opt_rebase == REBASE_MERGES)
 		strvec_push(&args, "--rebase-merges");
-	else if (opt_rebase == REBASE_PRESERVE)
-		strvec_push(&args, "--preserve-merges");
 	else if (opt_rebase == REBASE_INTERACTIVE)
 		strvec_push(&args, "--interactive");
 	if (opt_diffstat)
diff --git a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
index 4bdd27ddc8..5dab8bd579 100644
--- a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
+++ b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
@@ -2543,7 +2543,7 @@ __git_complete_config_variable_value ()
 		return
 		;;
 	branch.*.rebase)
-		__gitcomp "false true merges preserve interactive" "" "$cur_"
+		__gitcomp "false true merges interactive" "" "$cur_"
 		return
 		;;
 	remote.pushdefault)
diff --git a/rebase.c b/rebase.c
index f8137d859b..6775cddb28 100644
--- a/rebase.c
+++ b/rebase.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "rebase.h"
 #include "config.h"
+#include "gettext.h"
 
 /*
  * Parses textual value for pull.rebase, branch.<name>.rebase, etc.
@@ -20,12 +21,12 @@ enum rebase_type rebase_parse_value(const char *value)
 		return REBASE_FALSE;
 	else if (v > 0)
 		return REBASE_TRUE;
-	else if (!strcmp(value, "preserve") || !strcmp(value, "p"))
-		return REBASE_PRESERVE;
 	else if (!strcmp(value, "merges") || !strcmp(value, "m"))
 		return REBASE_MERGES;
 	else if (!strcmp(value, "interactive") || !strcmp(value, "i"))
 		return REBASE_INTERACTIVE;
+	else if (!strcmp(value, "preserve") || !strcmp(value, "p"))
+		error(_("%s: 'preserve' superseded by 'merges'"), value);
 	/*
 	 * Please update _git_config() in git-completion.bash when you
 	 * add new rebase modes.
diff --git a/rebase.h b/rebase.h
index cc723d4748..203b437282 100644
--- a/rebase.h
+++ b/rebase.h
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ enum rebase_type {
 	REBASE_INVALID = -1,
 	REBASE_FALSE = 0,
 	REBASE_TRUE,
-	REBASE_PRESERVE,
 	REBASE_MERGES,
 	REBASE_INTERACTIVE
 };