diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/check-config.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/check-config.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 5803b4ed833..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/check-config.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-# Useful tool to check syntax of a config file. Upstart needs a dbus
-# session, so this script wraps one up and makes the operation not
-# require any prior state.
-#
-# See: http://mwhiteley.com/scripts/2012/12/11/dbus-init-checkconf.html
-{stdenv, coreutils, upstart, writeScript, dbus}:
-
-writeScript "upstart-check-config" ''
-  #!${stdenv.shell}
-
-  set -o errexit
-  set -o nounset
-
-  export PATH=${stdenv.lib.makeBinPath [dbus.out upstart coreutils]}:$PATH
-
-  if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]
-  then
-    echo "Usage: $0 upstart-conf-file" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-  config=$1 && shift
-
-  dbus_pid_file=$(mktemp)
-  exec 4<> $dbus_pid_file
-
-  dbus_add_file=$(mktemp)
-  exec 6<> $dbus_add_file
-
-  dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 4 --print-address 6 --session
-
-  function clean {
-    dbus_pid=$(cat $dbus_pid_file)
-    if [[ -n $dbus_pid ]]; then
-      kill $dbus_pid
-    fi
-    rm -f $dbus_pid_file $dbus_add_file
-  }
-  trap "{ clean; }" EXIT
-
-  export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=$(cat $dbus_add_file)
-
-  init-checkconf $config
-''
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/default.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 76ce2637ced..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/default.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-{ stdenv, fetchurl, pkgconfig, dbus, libnih, python, makeWrapper, utillinux
-, writeScript }:
-
-let
-  inherit (stdenv.lib) makeBinPath;
-  version = "1.5";
-
-  upstart = stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  name = "upstart-${version}";
-
-  src = fetchurl {
-    url = "http://upstart.ubuntu.com/download/${version}/${name}.tar.gz";
-    sha256 = "01w4ab6nlisz5blb0an1sxjkndwikr7sjp0cmz4lg00g3n7gahmx";
-  };
-
-  buildInputs = [ pkgconfig dbus libnih python makeWrapper];
-
-  NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE =
-    ''
-      -DSHELL="${stdenv.shell}"
-      -DCONFFILE="/etc/init.conf"
-      -DCONFDIR="/etc/init"
-      -DPATH="/no-path"
-    '';
-
-  # The interface version prevents NixOS from switching to an
-  # incompatible Upstart at runtime.  (Switching across reboots is
-  # fine, of course.)  It should be increased whenever Upstart changes
-  # in a backwards-incompatible way.  If the interface version of two
-  # Upstart builds is the same, then we can switch between them at
-  # runtime; otherwise we can't and we need to reboot.
-  passthru.interfaceVersion = 2;
-
-  postInstall =
-    ''
-      t=$out/etc/bash_completion.d
-      mkdir -p $t
-      cp ${./upstart-bash-completion} $t/upstart
-
-      # Patch some binaries to refer to the correct binary location.
-      sed -i "s,/sbin/init,$out/bin/init,g" $out/bin/init-checkconf
-      sed -i "s,initctl,$out/bin/initctl," $out/bin/initctl2dot
-
-      # Add some missing executable permissions, and wrap binaries.
-      chmod +x $out/bin/init-checkconf $out/bin/init-checkconf
-      wrapProgram $out/bin/init-checkconf \
-        --prefix PATH : $out/bin:${makeBinPath [utillinux dbus]}
-      wrapProgram $out/bin/initctl2dot --prefix PATH : $out/bin
-    '';
-
-  meta = {
-    homepage = http://upstart.ubuntu.com/;
-    description = "An event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon";
-    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
-  };
-};
-
-in upstart
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/upstart-bash-completion b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/upstart-bash-completion
deleted file mode 100644
index f47d38c90ad..00000000000
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/upstart/upstart-bash-completion
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-_upstart_comp_list(){
-  COMPREPLY=()
-  cur=${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}
-  if [ $COMP_CWORD -eq 1 ]; then
-      COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -o filenames -W "$@" $cur) )
-  fi
-}
-
-_upstart_complete() { _upstart_comp_list "$(initctl list 2>&1 | grep -E "$1" | cut -f2 -d ' ')"; }
-
-_waiting(){ _upstart_complete "(waiting|instance)"; }
-_running(){ _upstart_complete "(running|instance)"; }
-_jobs(){ _upstart_comp_list "$(ls -1 /etc/event.d 2> /dev/null)"; }
-
-complete -F _jobs status
-complete -F _waiting start
-complete -F _running stop
-complete -F _running restart
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index 2691a4f85d3..8fb97035794 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -12754,10 +12754,6 @@ with pkgs;
 
   upower = callPackage ../os-specific/linux/upower { };
 
-  upstart = callPackage ../os-specific/linux/upstart { };
-
-  upstart-check-config = callPackage ../os-specific/linux/upstart/check-config.nix {};
-
   usbguard = libsForQt5.callPackage ../os-specific/linux/usbguard {
     libgcrypt = null;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/release-small.nix b/pkgs/top-level/release-small.nix
index 40218a2b702..be055ccb285 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/release-small.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/release-small.nix
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ with import ./release-lib.nix { inherit supportedSystems; };
   udev = linux;
   unar = linux;
   unzip = all;
-  upstart = linux;
   usbutils = linux;
   utillinux = linux;
   utillinuxMinimal = linux;