diff --git a/dirmngr/dirmngr.c b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
index 4f7f4be32..ffbb10871 100644
--- a/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
+++ b/dirmngr/dirmngr.c
@@ -1957,8 +1957,6 @@ housekeeping_thread (void *arg)
   if (network_activity_seen)
     {
       network_activity_seen = 0;
-      if (opt.allow_version_check)
-        dirmngr_load_swdb (&ctrlbuf, 0);
       workqueue_run_global_tasks (&ctrlbuf, 1);
     }
   else
diff --git a/doc/dirmngr.texi b/doc/dirmngr.texi
index 4345e36a9..8e6cbc643 100644
--- a/doc/dirmngr.texi
+++ b/doc/dirmngr.texi
@@ -290,9 +290,10 @@ Set the size of the queue for pending connections.  The default is 64.
 @item --allow-version-check
 @opindex allow-version-check
 Allow Dirmngr to connect to @code{https://versions.gnupg.org} to get
-the list of current software versions.  If this option is enabled
-the list is retrieved in case the local
-copy does not exist or is older than 5 to 7 days.  See the option
+the list of current software versions.
+On debian-packaged versions, this option does nothing since software
+updates should be handled by the distribution.
+See the option
 @option{--query-swdb} of the command @command{gpgconf} for more
 details.  Note, that regardless of this option a version check can
 always be triggered using this command: