diff --git a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-rules b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-rules
index 50eb66d37..b0ae6969a 100644
--- a/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-rules
+++ b/salt/common/tools/sbin/so-rules
@@ -334,7 +334,6 @@ def main():
   apply_help='After updating rule configuration, apply the idstools state.'
 
   main_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
-  main_parser.add_argument('--apply', action='store_const', const=True, required=False, help=apply_help)
 
   subcommand_desc = textwrap.dedent(
     """\