diff --git a/DOCS/tech-overview.txt b/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
index fd6a7a1fb7..914b2222b4 100644
--- a/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
+++ b/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
@@ -75,8 +75,7 @@ talloc.h & talloc.c:
     allocation call will never return NULL.
 
     One very useful feature of talloc is fast tracking of memory leaks. ("Fast"
-    as in it doesn't require valgrind.) You can enable it by passing the option
-    --leak-report as first parameter, or better, setting the
+    as in it doesn't require valgrind.) You can enable it by setting the
     MPV_LEAK_REPORT environment variable to "1":
         export MPV_LEAK_REPORT=1
     This will list all unfree'd allocations on exit.
diff --git a/options/options.c b/options/options.c
index 23bfef5612..c5fa2b427b 100644
--- a/options/options.c
+++ b/options/options.c
@@ -95,10 +95,6 @@ const m_option_t mp_opts[] = {
     { "show-profile", CONF_TYPE_STRING, CONF_NOCFG | M_OPT_FIXED, .offset = -1},
     { "list-options", CONF_TYPE_STORE, CONF_NOCFG | M_OPT_FIXED, .offset = -1},
 
-    // handled in main.c (looks at the raw argv[])
-    { "leak-report", CONF_TYPE_STORE, CONF_GLOBAL | CONF_NOCFG | M_OPT_FIXED,
-      .offset = -1 },
-
     OPT_FLAG("shuffle", shuffle, 0),
 
 // ------------------------- common options --------------------
diff --git a/player/main.c b/player/main.c
index dc5c901447..ff7450f164 100644
--- a/player/main.c
+++ b/player/main.c
@@ -272,16 +272,6 @@ static bool handle_help_options(struct MPContext *mpctx)
     return opt_exit;
 }
 
-static void osdep_preinit(int argc, char **argv)
-{
-    char *enable_talloc = getenv("MPV_LEAK_REPORT");
-    if (argc > 1 && (strcmp(argv[1], "-leak-report") == 0 ||
-                     strcmp(argv[1], "--leak-report") == 0))
-        enable_talloc = "1";
-    if (enable_talloc && strcmp(enable_talloc, "1") == 0)
-        talloc_enable_leak_report();
-}
-
 static int cfg_include(void *ctx, char *filename, int flags)
 {
     struct MPContext *mpctx = ctx;
@@ -486,7 +476,9 @@ int mp_initialize(struct MPContext *mpctx, char **options)
 
 int mpv_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-    osdep_preinit(argc, argv);
+    char *enable_talloc = getenv("MPV_LEAK_REPORT");
+    if (enable_talloc && strcmp(enable_talloc, "1") == 0)
+        talloc_enable_leak_report();
 
     struct MPContext *mpctx = mp_create();
     struct MPOpts *opts = mpctx->opts;