diff --git a/cmd/tendermint/commands/run_node.go b/cmd/tendermint/commands/run_node.go
index e92911da..6740df28 100644
--- a/cmd/tendermint/commands/run_node.go
+++ b/cmd/tendermint/commands/run_node.go
@@ -2,13 +2,11 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/node"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
-	cmn "github.com/tendermint/tmlibs/common"
 )
 
 var runNodeCmd = &cobra.Command{
@@ -58,16 +56,7 @@ func AddNodeFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 // with their custom priv validator and/or custom proxy.ClientCreator
 func runNode(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
-	// Wait until the genesis doc becomes available
-	// This is for Mintnet compatibility.
-	// TODO: If Mintnet gets deprecated or genesis_file is
-	// always available, remove.
 	genDocFile := config.GenesisFile()
-	for !cmn.FileExists(genDocFile) {
-		logger.Info(cmn.Fmt("Waiting for genesis file %v...", genDocFile))
-		time.Sleep(time.Second)
-	}
-
 	genDoc, err := types.GenesisDocFromFile(genDocFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err