diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/forms.py b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/forms.py
index e271bf48a9..1767cc7422 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/forms.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/forms.py
@@ -54,10 +54,8 @@ class CourseListGetForm(UsernameValidatorMixin, Form):
     filter_type = namedtuple('filter_type', ['param_name', 'field_name'])
     supported_filters = [
         filter_type(param_name='mobile', field_name='mobile_available'),
-        filter_type(param_name='include_hidden', field_name='include_hidden'),
     ]
     mobile = ExtendedNullBooleanField(required=False)
-    include_hidden = ExtendedNullBooleanField(required=False)
 
     def clean(self):
         """
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/serializers.py b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/serializers.py
index 531b8b41b3..bcd5806fb3 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/serializers.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/serializers.py
@@ -72,21 +72,10 @@ class CourseSerializer(serializers.Serializer):  # pylint: disable=abstract-meth
     start_type = serializers.CharField()
     pacing = serializers.CharField()
     mobile_available = serializers.BooleanField()
-    hidden = serializers.SerializerMethodField()
 
     # 'course_id' is a deprecated field, please use 'id' instead.
     course_id = serializers.CharField(source='id', read_only=True)
 
-    def get_hidden(self, course_overview):
-        """
-        Get the representation for SerializerMethodField `hidden`
-        Represents whether course is hidden in LMS
-        """
-        catalog_visibility = course_overview.catalog_visibility
-        if catalog_visibility in ['about', 'none']:
-            return True
-        return False
-
     def get_blocks_url(self, course_overview):
         """
         Get the representation for SerializerMethodField `blocks_url`
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_forms.py b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_forms.py
index 744f8a9082..5ea6d2343a 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_forms.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_forms.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Tests for Course API forms.
 import ddt
 from django.contrib.auth.models import AnonymousUser
 from django.http import QueryDict
-from itertools import product, chain
+from itertools import product
 from urllib import urlencode
 
 from openedx.core.djangoapps.util.test_forms import FormTestMixin
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ class TestCourseListGetForm(FormTestMixin, UsernameTestMixin, SharedModuleStoreT
             'org': '',
             'mobile': None,
             'filter_': None,
-            'include_hidden': None,
         }
 
     def test_basic(self):
@@ -79,13 +78,10 @@ class TestCourseListGetForm(FormTestMixin, UsernameTestMixin, SharedModuleStoreT
         self.assert_valid(self.cleaned_data)
 
     @ddt.data(
-        *chain(product(
+        *product(
             [('mobile', 'mobile_available')],
             [(True, True), (False, False), ('1', True), ('0', False), (None, None)],
-        ), product(
-            [('include_hidden', 'include_hidden')],
-            [(True, True), (False, False), ('1', True), ('0', False), (None, None)],
-        ))
+        )
     )
     @ddt.unpack
     def test_filter(self, param_field_name, param_field_value):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_serializers.py b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_serializers.py
index ea14383068..50373d32fc 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_serializers.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/tests/test_serializers.py
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ class TestCourseSerializer(CourseApiFactoryMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
             'effort': u'6 hours',
             'pacing': 'instructor',
             'mobile_available': False,
-            'hidden': False,
 
             # 'course_id' is a deprecated field, please use 'id' instead.
             'course_id': u'edX/toy/2012_Fall',
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/views.py b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/views.py
index 28189537cc..33aea96e29 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/course_api/views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/course_api/views.py
@@ -152,10 +152,6 @@ class CourseListView(DeveloperErrorViewMixin, ListAPIView):
             If specified, only visible `CourseOverview` objects that are
             designated as mobile_available are returned.
 
-        include_hidden (optional):
-            If specified, courses that are hidden in the LMS, will be returned
-            with a hidden flag set to true.
-
     **Returns**
 
         * 200 on success, with a list of course discovery objects as returned
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
index 7feb4ac4ca..da6e88153c 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
@@ -376,7 +376,6 @@ def get_courses(user, org=None, filter_=None):
     Returns a list of courses available, sorted by course.number and optionally
     filtered by org code (case-insensitive).
     """
-    include_hidden = filter_.pop('include_hidden', False) if filter_ else False
     courses = branding.get_visible_courses(org=org, filter_=filter_)
 
     permission_name = configuration_helpers.get_value(
@@ -384,14 +383,8 @@ def get_courses(user, org=None, filter_=None):
         settings.COURSE_CATALOG_VISIBILITY_PERMISSION
     )
 
-    # see_in_catalog is the permission that checks the catalog visibility setting.
-    # include_hidden refers to showing courses that are normally not visible due to this setting.
-    # We don't want to show courses that are hidden for other reasons, which is why we don't
-    # use the override for other permissions.
-    if permission_name is 'see_in_catalog':
-        courses = [c for c in courses if include_hidden or has_access(user, permission_name, c)]
-    else:
-        courses = [c for c in courses if has_access(user, permission_name, c)]
+    courses = [c for c in courses if has_access(user, permission_name, c)]
+
     return courses