diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/install.c b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/install.c
index cd44a7e5cb6a..5782da6e0edf 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/install.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/install.c
@@ -1194,7 +1194,6 @@ installVarDefaults(dialogMenuItem *self)
     variable_set2(VAR_RELNAME,			cp, 0);
     free(cp);
     variable_set2(VAR_CPIO_VERBOSITY,		"high", 0);
-    variable_set2(VAR_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE,		DEFAULT_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE, 0);
     variable_set2(VAR_INSTALL_ROOT,		"/", 0);
     variable_set2(VAR_INSTALL_CFG,		"install.cfg", 0);
     variable_set2(VAR_SKIP_PCCARD,		"NO", 0);
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/media.c b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/media.c
index c9a74cacafc4..5af902ab204c 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/media.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/media.c
@@ -664,9 +664,9 @@ mediaExtractDistBegin(char *dir, int *fd, int *zpid, int *cpid)
 	    dup2(1, 2);
 	}
 	if (strlen(cpioVerbosity()))
-	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", cpioVerbosity(), "--block-size", mediaTapeBlocksize(), (char *)0);
+	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", cpioVerbosity(), (char *)0);
 	else
-	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", "--block-size", mediaTapeBlocksize(), (char *)0);
+	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", (char *)0);
 	if (isDebug())
 	    msgDebug("%s command returns %d status\n", cpio, i);
 	exit(i);
@@ -752,9 +752,9 @@ mediaExtractDist(char *dir, char *dist, FILE *fp)
 	    dup2(1, 2);
 	}
 	if (strlen(cpioVerbosity()))
-	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", cpioVerbosity(), "--block-size", mediaTapeBlocksize(), (char *)0);
+	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", cpioVerbosity(), (char *)0);
 	else
-	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", "--block-size", mediaTapeBlocksize(), (char *)0);
+	    i = execl(cpio, cpio, "-idum", "--block-size", (char *)0);
 	if (isDebug())
 	    msgDebug("%s command returns %d status\n", cpio, i);
 	exit(i);
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/options.c b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/options.c
index 04876d622b17..8634c69754e6 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/options.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/options.c
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ mediaCheck(Option *opt)
     return "<not yet set>";
 }
 
-#define TAPE_PROMPT	"Please enter the tape block size in 512 byte blocks:"
 #define NEWFS_PROMPT	"Please enter newfs(8) parameters:"
 #define RELNAME_PROMPT	"Please specify the release you wish to load or\n\"any\" for a generic release install:"
 #define BPKG_PROMPT	"Please specify the name of the HTML browser package:"
@@ -132,8 +131,6 @@ static Option Options[] = {
       OPT_IS_FUNC,	mediaSetFTPUserPass,	VAR_FTP_USER,		varCheck	},
 { "Editor",		"Which text editor to use during installation",
       OPT_IS_VAR,	EDITOR_PROMPT,		VAR_EDITOR,		varCheck	},
-{ "Tape Blocksize",	"Tape media block size in 512 byte blocks",
-      OPT_IS_VAR,	TAPE_PROMPT,		VAR_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE,	varCheck	},
 { "Extract Detail",	"How verbosely to display file name information during extractions",
       OPT_IS_FUNC,	mediaSetCPIOVerbosity,	VAR_CPIO_VERBOSITY,	varCheck	},
 { "Release Name",	"Which release to attempt to load from installation media",
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/sysinstall.h b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/sysinstall.h
index 2805c87146f1..f0966f4673e6 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/sysinstall.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/sysinstall.h
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@
 #define VAR_SERIAL_SPEED		"serialSpeed"
 #define VAR_SLOW_ETHER			"slowEthernetCard"
 #define VAR_SWAP_SIZE			"swapSize"
-#define VAR_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE		"tapeBlocksize"
 #define VAR_TRY_DHCP			"tryDHCP"
 #define VAR_TRY_RTSOL			"tryRTSOL"
 #define VAR_SKIP_PCCARD			"skipPCCARD"
@@ -206,7 +205,6 @@
 #else
 #define DEFAULT_COUNTRY		"us"
 #endif
-#define DEFAULT_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE	"20"
 
 /* One MB worth of blocks */
 #define ONE_MEG				2048
@@ -848,7 +846,6 @@ extern void	systemCreateHoloshell(void);
 extern int	vsystem(char *fmt, ...) __printflike(1, 2);
 
 /* tape.c */
-extern char	*mediaTapeBlocksize(void);
 extern Boolean	mediaInitTape(Device *dev);
 extern FILE	*mediaGetTape(Device *dev, char *file, Boolean probe);
 extern void	mediaShutdownTape(Device *dev);
diff --git a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/tape.c b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/tape.c
index fd73da568e85..d5631d0f9be2 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/sysinstall/tape.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/sysinstall/tape.c
@@ -42,14 +42,6 @@
 
 static Boolean tapeInitted;
 
-char *
-mediaTapeBlocksize(void)
-{
-    char *cp = variable_get(VAR_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE);
-
-    return cp ? cp : DEFAULT_TAPE_BLOCKSIZE;
-}
-
 Boolean
 mediaInitTape(Device *dev)
 {
@@ -82,9 +74,9 @@ mediaGetTape(Device *dev, char *file, Boolean probe)
 	/* We know the tape is already in the drive, so go for it */
 	msgNotify("First extracting distributions from %s...", dev->description);
 	if (!strcmp(dev->name, "rft0"))
-	    i = vsystem("ft | cpio -idum %s --block-size %s", cpioVerbosity(), mediaTapeBlocksize());
+	    i = vsystem("ft | cpio -idum %s", cpioVerbosity());
 	else
-	    i = vsystem("cpio -idum %s --block-size %s -I %s", cpioVerbosity(), mediaTapeBlocksize(), dev->devname);
+	    i = vsystem("cpio -idum %s -I %s", cpioVerbosity(), dev->devname);
 	if (!i) {
 	    tapeInitted = TRUE;
 	    msgDebug("Tape initialized successfully.\n");