diff --git a/tools/test-backend b/tools/test-backend
index e3ce1c4dae..15f82eaa05 100755
--- a/tools/test-backend
+++ b/tools/test-backend
@@ -238,9 +238,6 @@ def main() -> None:
                         action="store_true",
                         default=False,
                         help="Show detailed output")
-    parser.add_argument('--generate-fixtures', action="store_true", default=False,
-                        dest="generate_fixtures",
-                        help=("Force a call to generate-fixtures."))
     parser.add_argument('--report-slow-tests', dest='report_slow_tests',
                         action="store_true",
                         default=False,
@@ -377,7 +374,7 @@ def main() -> None:
     # files, since part of setup is importing the models for all applications in INSTALLED_APPS.
     django.setup()
 
-    update_test_databases_if_required(options.generate_fixtures)
+    update_test_databases_if_required()
 
     subprocess.check_call(['tools/webpack', '--test'])
 
diff --git a/zerver/lib/test_fixtures.py b/zerver/lib/test_fixtures.py
index a216b31e9d..fa5b2c9f7e 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/test_fixtures.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/test_fixtures.py
@@ -202,8 +202,7 @@ TEST_DATABASE = Database(
     settings='zproject.test_settings',
 )
 
-def update_test_databases_if_required(use_force: bool=False,
-                                      rebuild_test_database: bool=False) -> None:
+def update_test_databases_if_required(rebuild_test_database: bool=False) -> None:
     """Checks whether the zulip_test_template database template, is
     consistent with our database migrations; if not, it updates it
     in the fastest way possible:
@@ -219,12 +218,10 @@ def update_test_databases_if_required(use_force: bool=False,
     The `rebuild_test_database` option (used by our Casper tests) asks
     us to drop and re-cloning the zulip_test database from the
     template so those test suites can run with a fresh copy.
-
-    If use_force is specified, it will always do a full rebuild.
     """
     test_template_db_status = TEST_DATABASE.template_status()
 
-    if use_force or test_template_db_status == 'needs_rebuild':
+    if test_template_db_status == 'needs_rebuild':
         run(['tools/rebuild-dev-database'])
         return