diff --git a/lisp/startup.el b/lisp/startup.el
index 35c3cb03e17..836ead6deb0 100644
--- a/lisp/startup.el
+++ b/lisp/startup.el
@@ -853,12 +853,6 @@ It is the default value of the variable `top-level'."
     ;; We are careful to do it late (after term-setup-hook), although the
     ;; new multi-tty code does not use $TERM any more there anyway.
     (setenv "TERM" "dumb")
-    ;; Similarly, a subprocess should not try to invoke a pager, as most
-    ;; pagers will fail in a dumb terminal.  Many programs default to
-    ;; using "less" when PAGER is unset, so set PAGER to "cat"; using cat
-    ;; as a pager is equivalent to not using a pager at all.
-    (when (executable-find "cat")
-      (setenv "PAGER" "cat"))
     ;; Remove DISPLAY from the process-environment as well.  This allows
     ;; `callproc.c' to give it a useful adaptive default which is either
     ;; the value of the `display' frame-parameter or the DISPLAY value