diff --git a/ReadMe.c b/ReadMe.c
index 4214cb0..c4bb730 100644
--- a/ReadMe.c
+++ b/ReadMe.c
@@ -259,10 +259,6 @@ char OptionHelp[] =
 "  --query       -Q   : Display general information about how a\n"
 "                       device relates to the md driver\n"
 "  --auto-detect      : Start arrays auto-detected by the kernel\n"
-"  --offroot          : Set first character of argv[0] to @ to indicate the\n"
-"                       application was launched from initrd/initramfs and\n"
-"                       should not be shutdown by systemd as part of the\n"
-"                       regular shutdown process.\n"
 ;
 /*
 "\n"
diff --git a/mdadm.8.in b/mdadm.8.in
index c1881cd..a3abc2d 100644
--- a/mdadm.8.in
+++ b/mdadm.8.in
@@ -255,17 +255,6 @@ Avoid printing purely informative messages.  With this,
 .I mdadm
 will be silent unless there is something really important to report.
 
-.TP
-.BR \-\-offroot
-Set first character of argv[0] to @ to indicate mdadm was launched
-from initrd/initramfs and should not be shutdown by systemd as part of
-the regular shutdown process. This option is normally only used by
-the system's initscripts. Please see here for more details on how
-systemd handled argv[0]:
-.IP
-.B http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/RootStorageDaemons
-.PP
-
 
 .TP
 .BR \-f ", " \-\-force
diff --git a/mdadm.c b/mdadm.c
index 26e8cec..f22fd7b 100644
--- a/mdadm.c
+++ b/mdadm.c
@@ -116,6 +116,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	ident.container = NULL;
 	ident.member = NULL;
 
+	/*
+	 * set first char of argv[0] to @. This is used by
+	 * systemd to signal that the task was launched from
+	 * initrd/initramfs and should be preserved during shutdown
+	 */
+	argv[0][0] = '@';
+
 	while ((option_index = -1) ,
 	       (opt=getopt_long(argc, argv,
 				shortopt, long_options,
@@ -159,14 +166,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				c.homehost = optarg;
 			continue;
 
-		/*
-		 * --offroot sets first char of argv[0] to @. This is used
-		 * by systemd to signal that the task was launched from
-		 * initrd/initramfs and should be preserved during shutdown
-		 */
 		case OffRootOpt:
-			argv[0][0] = '@';
-			__offroot = 1;
+			/* Silently ignore old option */
 			continue;
 
 		case Prefer:
diff --git a/mdadm.h b/mdadm.h
index be760d2..a761f29 100644
--- a/mdadm.h
+++ b/mdadm.h
@@ -1487,5 +1487,3 @@ char *xstrdup(const char *str);
 #define INVALID_SECTORS 1
 /* And another special number needed for --data_offset=variable */
 #define VARIABLE_OFFSET 3
-
-extern int __offroot;
diff --git a/mdmon.8 b/mdmon.8
index 598d904..559dd90 100644
--- a/mdmon.8
+++ b/mdmon.8
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ mdmon \- monitor MD external metadata arrays
 
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 
-.BI mdmon " [--all] [--takeover] [--offroot] CONTAINER"
+.BI mdmon " [--all] [--takeover] CONTAINER"
 
 .SH OVERVIEW
 The 2.6.27 kernel brings the ability to support external metadata arrays.
@@ -166,15 +166,6 @@ containers with names longer than 5 characters, this argument can be
 arbitrarily extended, e.g. to
 .BR \-\-all-active-arrays .
 .TP
-.BR \-\-offroot
-Set first character of argv[0] to @ to indicate mdmon was launched
-from initrd/initramfs and should not be shutdown by systemd as part of
-the regular shutdown process. This option is normally only used by
-the system's initscripts. Please see here for more details on how
-systemd handled argv[0]:
-.IP
-.B http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/RootStorageDaemons
-.PP
 
 .PP
 Note that
diff --git a/mdmon.c b/mdmon.c
index 5d5ae94..8720aa5 100644
--- a/mdmon.c
+++ b/mdmon.c
@@ -184,9 +184,6 @@ static void try_kill_monitor(pid_t pid, char *devname, int sock)
 	buf[sizeof(buf)-1] = 0;
 	close(fd);
 
-	/* Note that if started with --offroot, the name
-	 * might be "@dmon"
-	 */
 	if (n < 0 || !(strstr(buf, "mdmon") ||
 		       strstr(buf, "@dmon")))
 		return;
@@ -276,10 +273,6 @@ void usage(void)
 "  --help        -h   : This message\n"
 "  --all              : All devices\n"
 "  --takeover    -t   : Takeover container\n"
-"  --offroot          : Set first character of argv[0] to @ to indicate the\n"
-"                       application was launched from initrd/initramfs and\n"
-"                       should not be shutdown by systemd as part of the\n"
-"                       regular shutdown process.\n"
 );
 	exit(2);
 }
@@ -303,6 +296,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
 	};
 
+	/*
+	 * Always change process name to @dmon to avoid systemd killing it
+	 */
+	argv[0][0] = '@';
+
 	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, "tha", options, NULL)) != -1) {
 		switch (opt) {
 		case 'a':
@@ -313,7 +311,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			takeover = 1;
 			break;
 		case OffRootOpt:
-			argv[0][0] = '@';
+			/* silently ignore old option */
 			break;
 		case 'h':
 		default:
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index fc9043b..e75b754 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@
 #include	<dirent.h>
 #include	<signal.h>
 
-int __offroot;
-
 /*
  * following taken from linux/blkpg.h because they aren't
  * anywhere else and it isn't safe to #include linux/ * stuff.
@@ -1674,15 +1672,8 @@ int start_mdmon(int devnum)
 
 		for (i = 0; paths[i]; i++)
 			if (paths[i][0]) {
-				if (__offroot) {
-					execl(paths[i], "mdmon", "--offroot",
-					      devnum2devname(devnum),
-					      NULL);
-				} else {
-					execl(paths[i], "mdmon",
-					      devnum2devname(devnum),
-					      NULL);
-				}
+				execl(paths[i], "mdmon",
+				      devnum2devname(devnum), NULL);
 			}
 		exit(1);
 	case -1: pr_err("cannot run mdmon. "