diff --git a/scripts/qmp/qmp b/scripts/qmp/qmp
index 8e52e4a54d..0f12307c87 100755
--- a/scripts/qmp/qmp
+++ b/scripts/qmp/qmp
@@ -1,128 +1,11 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-#
-# QMP command line tool
-#
-# Copyright IBM, Corp. 2011
-#
-# Authors:
-#  Anthony Liguori <aliguori@us.ibm.com>
-#
-# This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPLv2 or later.
-# See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
 
-import sys, os
+import sys
 
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', '..', 'python'))
-from qemu.qmp import QEMUMonitorProtocol
+print('''This unmaintained and undocumented script was removed in preference
+for qmp-shell. The assumption is that most users are using either
+qmp-shell, socat, or pasting/piping JSON into stdio. The duplication of
+facilities here is unwanted, and the divergence of syntax harmful.''',
+      file=sys.stderr)
 
-def print_response(rsp, prefix=[]):
-    if type(rsp) == list:
-        i = 0
-        for item in rsp:
-            if prefix == []:
-                prefix = ['item']
-            print_response(item, prefix[:-1] + ['%s[%d]' % (prefix[-1], i)])
-            i += 1
-    elif type(rsp) == dict:
-        for key in rsp.keys():
-            print_response(rsp[key], prefix + [key])
-    else:
-        if len(prefix):
-            print('%s: %s' % ('.'.join(prefix), rsp))
-        else:
-            print('%s' % (rsp))
-
-def main(args):
-    path = None
-
-    # Use QMP_PATH if it's set
-    if 'QMP_PATH' in os.environ:
-        path = os.environ['QMP_PATH']
-
-    while len(args):
-        arg = args[0]
-
-        if arg.startswith('--'):
-            arg = arg[2:]
-            if arg.find('=') == -1:
-                value = True
-            else:
-                arg, value = arg.split('=', 1)
-
-            if arg in ['path']:
-                if type(value) == str:
-                    path = value
-            elif arg in ['help']:
-                os.execlp('man', 'man', 'qmp')
-            else:
-                print('Unknown argument "%s"' % arg)
-
-            args = args[1:]
-        else:
-            break
-
-    if not path:
-        print("QMP path isn't set, use --path=qmp-monitor-address or set QMP_PATH")
-        return 1
-
-    if len(args):
-        command, args = args[0], args[1:]
-    else:
-        print('No command found')
-        print('Usage: "qmp [--path=qmp-monitor-address] qmp-cmd arguments"')
-        return 1
-
-    if command in ['help']:
-        os.execlp('man', 'man', 'qmp')
-
-    srv = QEMUMonitorProtocol(path)
-    srv.connect()
-
-    def do_command(srv, cmd, **kwds):
-        rsp = srv.cmd(cmd, kwds)
-        if 'error' in rsp:
-            raise Exception(rsp['error']['desc'])
-        return rsp['return']
-
-    commands = map(lambda x: x['name'], do_command(srv, 'query-commands'))
-
-    srv.close()
-
-    if command not in commands:
-        fullcmd = 'qmp-%s' % command
-        try:
-            os.environ['QMP_PATH'] = path
-            os.execvp(fullcmd, [fullcmd] + args)
-        except OSError as exc:
-            if exc.errno == 2:
-                print('Command "%s" not found.' % (fullcmd))
-                return 1
-            raise
-        return 0
-
-    srv = QEMUMonitorProtocol(path)
-    srv.connect()
-
-    arguments = {}
-    for arg in args:
-        if not arg.startswith('--'):
-            print('Unknown argument "%s"' % arg)
-            return 1
-
-        arg = arg[2:]
-        if arg.find('=') == -1:
-            value = True
-        else:
-            arg, value = arg.split('=', 1)
-
-        if arg in ['help']:
-            os.execlp('man', 'man', 'qmp-%s' % command)
-            return 1
-
-        arguments[arg] = value
-
-    rsp = do_command(srv, command, **arguments)
-    print_response(rsp)
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    sys.exit(main(sys.argv[1:]))
+sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
index c5eef06f3f..b4d06096ab 100755
--- a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
+++ b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
         indent = None
         if self._pretty:
             indent = 4
-        jsobj = json.dumps(qmp, indent=indent)
+        jsobj = json.dumps(qmp, indent=indent, sort_keys=self._pretty)
         print(str(jsobj))
 
     def _execute_cmd(self, cmdline):