diff --git a/tools/xen/prepare_guest.sh b/tools/xen/prepare_guest.sh
index cd189db803..7383c91e37 100755
--- a/tools/xen/prepare_guest.sh
+++ b/tools/xen/prepare_guest.sh
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ function setup_vimrc {
     if [ ! -e $1 ]; then
         # Simple but usable vimrc
         cat > $1 <<EOF
-syntax on
 se ts=4
 se expandtab
 se shiftwidth=4