diff --git a/cmd/notary/cert.go b/cmd/notary/cert.go
index 17273a25ea..2922850d4e 100644
--- a/cmd/notary/cert.go
+++ b/cmd/notary/cert.go
@@ -25,12 +25,6 @@ var cmdCertListTemplate = usageTemplate{
 	Long:  "Lists root certificates known to notary.",
 }
 
-var cmdCertRotateTemplate = &usageTemplate{
-	Use:   "rotate [ GUN ]",
-	Short: "Rotate certificates for a role.",
-	Long:  "Generates new certificates for the given role (without replacing the root key).",
-}
-
 var cmdCertRemoveTemplate = usageTemplate{
 	Use:   "remove [ certID ]",
 	Short: "Removes the certificate with the given cert ID.",
@@ -50,7 +44,6 @@ type certCommander struct {
 func (c *certCommander) GetCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := cmdCertTemplate.ToCommand(nil)
 	cmd.AddCommand(cmdCertListTemplate.ToCommand(c.certList))
-	cmd.AddCommand(cmdCertRotateTemplate.ToCommand(c.certRotate))
 
 	cmdCertRemove := cmdCertRemoveTemplate.ToCommand(c.certRemove)
 	cmdCertRemove.Flags().StringVarP(
@@ -166,51 +159,6 @@ func (c *certCommander) certRemove(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// certRotate replaces a certificate with a new version
-func (c *certCommander) certRotate(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	if len(args) != 1 {
-		cmd.Usage()
-		return fmt.Errorf("Must specify a GUN")
-	}
-
-	gun := args[0]
-	config, err := c.configGetter()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	rt, err := getTransport(config, gun, false)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	nRepo, err := notaryclient.NewNotaryRepository(config.GetString("trust_dir"), gun, getRemoteTrustServer(config), rt, c.retriever)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	certs, err := nRepo.ListRootCerts()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	for _, cert := range certs {
-		err := nRepo.RotateRootCert(cert)
-		if err != nil {
-			id, err := trustmanager.FingerprintCert(cert)
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("Could not fingerprint certificate: %v", err)
-			}
-			return fmt.Errorf("Error rotating certificate %s: %s", id, err)
-		}
-	}
-
-	cmd.Printf(
-		"Rotation of the following certificates into repository \"%s\" staged for next publish.\n",
-		gun)
-	prettyPrintCerts(certs, cmd.Out())
-	return nil
-}
-
 func (c *certCommander) certList(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if len(args) > 0 {
 		cmd.Usage()
diff --git a/cmd/notary/integration_test.go b/cmd/notary/integration_test.go
index da4589f838..bbbb250664 100644
--- a/cmd/notary/integration_test.go
+++ b/cmd/notary/integration_test.go
@@ -1379,75 +1379,6 @@ func TestClientKeyPassphraseChange(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, rootID, rootIDs[0])
 }
 
-func TestCertRotate(t *testing.T) {
-	logrus.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
-	// -- setup --
-	setUp(t)
-
-	authorTempDir := tempDirWithConfig(t, "{}")
-	defer os.RemoveAll(authorTempDir)
-	userTempDir := tempDirWithConfig(t, "{}")
-	defer os.RemoveAll(userTempDir)
-
-	server := setupServer()
-	defer server.Close()
-
-	// init repo
-	_, err := runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "init", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	certs := assertNumCerts(t, authorTempDir, 1)
-	oldCertID := strings.Fields(certs[0])[1]
-
-	// publish repo
-	_, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "publish", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// init user
-	_, err = runCommand(t, userTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "list", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	certs = assertNumCerts(t, userTempDir, 1)
-	require.Equal(t, oldCertID, strings.Fields(certs[0])[1])
-
-	// schedule root cert rotation
-	output, err := runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "cert", "rotate", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Contains(t, output, oldCertID)
-
-	// check status - see target
-	output, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "status", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Contains(t, output, "root")
-
-	// publish repo
-	_, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "publish", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// check status - no targets
-	output, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "status", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Contains(t, output, "No unpublished changes for gun")
-
-	// check the other user can use the updated repo
-	_, err = runCommand(t, userTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "list", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	// See the comment in TestRotateRootCert for why we need to cause two refreshes
-	// to see the updated certificate.
-	_, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "list", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	certs = assertNumCerts(t, authorTempDir, 1)
-	_, err = runCommand(t, authorTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "list", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	certs = assertNumCerts(t, authorTempDir, 1)
-	newCertID := strings.Fields(certs[0])[1]
-	require.NotEqual(t, oldCertID, newCertID)
-
-	_, err = runCommand(t, userTempDir, "-s", server.URL, "list", "gun")
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	certs = assertNumCerts(t, userTempDir, 1)
-	require.Equal(t, newCertID, strings.Fields(certs[0])[1])
-}
-
 func tempDirWithConfig(t *testing.T, config string) string {
 	tempDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "repo")
 	require.NoError(t, err)