diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_xml.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_xml.py
index 0c5c212bbf..c4446bebb5 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_xml.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_xml.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class TestXMLModuleStore(object):
         """Make sure that path_to_location works properly"""
 
         print "Starting import"
-        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, eager=True, course_dirs=['toy', 'simple'])
+        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, course_dirs=['toy', 'simple'])
         print "finished import"
         
         check_path_to_location(modulestore)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
index ce3635c4b9..8cb3da7e7a 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml.py
@@ -195,8 +195,7 @@ class XMLModuleStore(ModuleStoreBase):
     """
     An XML backed ModuleStore
     """
-    def __init__(self, data_dir, default_class=None, eager=False,
-                 course_dirs=None):
+    def __init__(self, data_dir, default_class=None, course_dirs=None):
         """
         Initialize an XMLModuleStore from data_dir
 
@@ -205,15 +204,11 @@ class XMLModuleStore(ModuleStoreBase):
         default_class: dot-separated string defining the default descriptor
             class to use if none is specified in entry_points
 
-        eager: If true, load the modules children immediately to force the
-            entire course tree to be parsed
-
         course_dirs: If specified, the list of course_dirs to load. Otherwise,
             load all course dirs
         """
         ModuleStoreBase.__init__(self)
 
-        self.eager = eager
         self.data_dir = path(data_dir)
         self.modules = defaultdict(dict)  # course_id -> dict(location -> XModuleDescriptor)
         self.courses = {}  # course_dir -> XModuleDescriptor for the course
@@ -226,11 +221,6 @@ class XMLModuleStore(ModuleStoreBase):
             class_ = getattr(import_module(module_path), class_name)
             self.default_class = class_
 
-        # TODO (cpennington): We need a better way of selecting specific sets of
-        # debug messages to enable. These were drowning out important messages
-        #log.debug('XMLModuleStore: eager=%s, data_dir = %s' % (eager, self.data_dir))
-        #log.debug('default_class = %s' % self.default_class)
-
         self.parent_tracker = ParentTracker()
 
         # If we are specifically asked for missing courses, that should
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml_importer.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml_importer.py
index 89f94d8cdb..be0bdc24c2 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml_importer.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/xml_importer.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from .exceptions import DuplicateItemError
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def import_from_xml(store, data_dir, course_dirs=None, eager=True,
+def import_from_xml(store, data_dir, course_dirs=None, 
                     default_class='xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor'):
     """
     Import the specified xml data_dir into the "store" modulestore,
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ def import_from_xml(store, data_dir, course_dirs=None, eager=True,
     module_store = XMLModuleStore(
         data_dir,
         default_class=default_class,
-        eager=eager,
         course_dirs=course_dirs
     )
     for course_id in module_store.modules.keys():
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_export.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_export.py
index 2520d95937..826e6c9d5a 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_export.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_export.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class RoundTripTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         copytree(data_dir / course_dir, root_dir / course_dir)
 
         print "Starting import"
-        initial_import = XMLModuleStore(root_dir, eager=True, course_dirs=[course_dir])
+        initial_import = XMLModuleStore(root_dir, course_dirs=[course_dir])
 
         courses = initial_import.get_courses()
         self.assertEquals(len(courses), 1)
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ class RoundTripTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             course_xml.write(xml)
 
         print "Starting second import"
-        second_import = XMLModuleStore(root_dir, eager=True, course_dirs=[course_dir])
+        second_import = XMLModuleStore(root_dir, course_dirs=[course_dir])
 
         courses2 = second_import.get_courses()
         self.assertEquals(len(courses2), 1)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
index a369850209..e81d82bf9e 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/tests/test_import.py
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ class ImportTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         """Make sure that metadata is inherited properly"""
 
         print "Starting import"
-        initial_import = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, eager=True, course_dirs=['toy'])
+        initial_import = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, course_dirs=['toy'])
 
         courses = initial_import.get_courses()
         self.assertEquals(len(courses), 1)
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ class ImportTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         def get_course(name):
             print "Importing {0}".format(name)
 
-            modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, eager=True, course_dirs=[name])
+            modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, course_dirs=[name])
             courses = modulestore.get_courses()
             self.assertEquals(len(courses), 1)
             return courses[0]
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ class ImportTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         happen--locations should uniquely name definitions.  But in
         our imperfect XML world, it can (and likely will) happen."""
 
-        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, eager=True, course_dirs=['toy', 'two_toys'])
+        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, course_dirs=['toy', 'two_toys'])
 
         toy_id = "edX/toy/2012_Fall"
         two_toy_id = "edX/toy/TT_2012_Fall"
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ class ImportTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         """Ensure that colons in url_names convert to file paths properly"""
 
         print "Starting import"
-        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, eager=True, course_dirs=['toy'])
+        modulestore = XMLModuleStore(DATA_DIR, course_dirs=['toy'])
 
         courses = modulestore.get_courses()
         self.assertEquals(len(courses), 1)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/clean_xml.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/clean_xml.py
index 9fd52178a2..425dd156c1 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/clean_xml.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/clean_xml.py
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ def import_with_checks(course_dir, verbose=True):
     # module.
     modulestore = XMLModuleStore(data_dir,
                    default_class=None,
-                   eager=True,
                    course_dirs=course_dirs)
 
     def str_of_err(tpl):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/metadata_to_json.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/metadata_to_json.py
index dcbcdc0df3..8ef0dee7b3 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/metadata_to_json.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/management/commands/metadata_to_json.py
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ def import_course(course_dir, verbose=True):
     # module.
     modulestore = XMLModuleStore(data_dir,
                    default_class=None,
-                   eager=True,
                    course_dirs=course_dirs)
 
     def str_of_err(tpl):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/tests.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/tests.py
index 280dada391..56a2384bc5 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/tests.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/tests.py
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ def xml_store_config(data_dir):
         'OPTIONS': {
             'data_dir': data_dir,
             'default_class': 'xmodule.hidden_module.HiddenDescriptor',
-            'eager': True,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
index 516344d79b..1122db3ad8 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/django_comment_client/utils.py
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ def get_full_modules():
         class_path = settings.MODULESTORE['default']['ENGINE']
         module_path, _, class_name = class_path.rpartition('.')
         class_ = getattr(import_module(module_path), class_name)
-        modulestore = class_(**dict(settings.MODULESTORE['default']['OPTIONS'].items() + [('eager', True)]))
+        # TODO (vshnayder): wth is this doing???
+        modulestore = class_(**dict(settings.MODULESTORE['default']['OPTIONS'].items()))
         _FULLMODULES = modulestore.modules
     return _FULLMODULES
 
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ def initialize_discussion_info(request, course):
 
     _is_course_discussion = lambda x: x[0].dict()['category'] == 'discussion' \
                          and x[0].dict()['course'] == course_name
-    
+
     _get_module_descriptor = operator.itemgetter(1)
 
     def _get_module(module_descriptor):
@@ -135,8 +136,8 @@ class HtmlResponse(HttpResponse):
     def __init__(self, html=''):
         super(HtmlResponse, self).__init__(html, content_type='text/plain')
 
-class ViewNameMiddleware(object):  
-    def process_view(self, request, view_func, view_args, view_kwargs):  
+class ViewNameMiddleware(object):
+    def process_view(self, request, view_func, view_args, view_kwargs):
         request.view_name = view_func.__name__
 
 class QueryCountDebugMiddleware(object):
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index ce08bf9666..0e2b2d38e6 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -219,7 +219,6 @@ MODULESTORE = {
         'OPTIONS': {
             'data_dir': DATA_DIR,
             'default_class': 'xmodule.hidden_module.HiddenDescriptor',
-            'eager': True,
         }
     }
 }