diff --git a/cli/setup.go b/cli/setup.go
index 78151015b..295477598 100644
--- a/cli/setup.go
+++ b/cli/setup.go
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	RootFlag     = "root"
 	HomeFlag     = "home"
 	TraceFlag    = "trace"
 	OutputFlag   = "output"
@@ -28,14 +27,9 @@ type Executable interface {
 }
 
 // PrepareBaseCmd is meant for tendermint and other servers
-func PrepareBaseCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, envPrefix, defautRoot string) Executor {
+func PrepareBaseCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, envPrefix, defaultHome string) Executor {
 	cobra.OnInitialize(func() { initEnv(envPrefix) })
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP(RootFlag, "r", defautRoot, "DEPRECATED. Use --home")
-	// -h is already reserved for --help as part of the cobra framework
-	// do you want to try something else??
-	// also, default must be empty, so we can detect this unset and fall back
-	// to --root / TM_ROOT / TMROOT
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().String(HomeFlag, "", "root directory for config and data")
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP(HomeFlag, "", defaultHome, "directory for config and data")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool(TraceFlag, false, "print out full stack trace on errors")
 	cmd.PersistentPreRunE = concatCobraCmdFuncs(bindFlagsLoadViper, cmd.PersistentPreRunE)
 	return Executor{cmd, os.Exit}
@@ -45,11 +39,11 @@ func PrepareBaseCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, envPrefix, defautRoot string) Executor {
 //
 // This adds --encoding (hex, btc, base64) and --output (text, json) to
 // the command.  These only really make sense in interactive commands.
-func PrepareMainCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, envPrefix, defautRoot string) Executor {
+func PrepareMainCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, envPrefix, defaultHome string) Executor {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP(EncodingFlag, "e", "hex", "Binary encoding (hex|b64|btc)")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP(OutputFlag, "o", "text", "Output format (text|json)")
 	cmd.PersistentPreRunE = concatCobraCmdFuncs(setEncoding, validateOutput, cmd.PersistentPreRunE)
-	return PrepareBaseCmd(cmd, envPrefix, defautRoot)
+	return PrepareBaseCmd(cmd, envPrefix, defaultHome)
 }
 
 // initEnv sets to use ENV variables if set.
@@ -136,17 +130,10 @@ func bindFlagsLoadViper(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// rootDir is command line flag, env variable, or default $HOME/.tlc
-	// NOTE: we support both --root and --home for now, but eventually only --home
-	// Also ensure we set the correct rootDir under HomeFlag so we dont need to
-	// repeat this logic elsewhere.
-	rootDir := viper.GetString(HomeFlag)
-	if rootDir == "" {
-		rootDir = viper.GetString(RootFlag)
-		viper.Set(HomeFlag, rootDir)
-	}
+	homeDir := viper.GetString(HomeFlag)
+	viper.Set(HomeFlag, homeDir)
 	viper.SetConfigName("config") // name of config file (without extension)
-	viper.AddConfigPath(rootDir)  // search root directory
+	viper.AddConfigPath(homeDir)  // search root directory
 
 	// If a config file is found, read it in.
 	if err := viper.ReadInConfig(); err == nil {
diff --git a/cli/setup_test.go b/cli/setup_test.go
index 692da26d3..e0fd75d8a 100644
--- a/cli/setup_test.go
+++ b/cli/setup_test.go
@@ -57,12 +57,9 @@ func TestSetupEnv(t *testing.T) {
 func TestSetupConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	// we pre-create two config files we can refer to in the rest of
 	// the test cases.
-	cval1, cval2 := "fubble", "wubble"
+	cval1 := "fubble"
 	conf1, err := WriteDemoConfig(map[string]string{"boo": cval1})
 	require.Nil(t, err)
-	// make sure it handles dashed-words in the config, and ignores random info
-	conf2, err := WriteDemoConfig(map[string]string{"boo": cval2, "foo": "bar", "two-words": "WORD"})
-	require.Nil(t, err)
 
 	cases := []struct {
 		args        []string
@@ -74,16 +71,13 @@ func TestSetupConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		// setting on the command line
 		{[]string{"--boo", "haha"}, nil, "haha", ""},
 		{[]string{"--two-words", "rocks"}, nil, "", "rocks"},
-		{[]string{"--root", conf1}, nil, cval1, ""},
+		{[]string{"--home", conf1}, nil, cval1, ""},
 		// test both variants of the prefix
 		{nil, map[string]string{"RD_BOO": "bang"}, "bang", ""},
 		{nil, map[string]string{"RD_TWO_WORDS": "fly"}, "", "fly"},
 		{nil, map[string]string{"RDTWO_WORDS": "fly"}, "", "fly"},
-		{nil, map[string]string{"RD_ROOT": conf1}, cval1, ""},
-		{nil, map[string]string{"RDROOT": conf2}, cval2, "WORD"},
+		{nil, map[string]string{"RD_HOME": conf1}, cval1, ""},
 		{nil, map[string]string{"RDHOME": conf1}, cval1, ""},
-		// and when both are set??? HOME wins every time!
-		{[]string{"--root", conf1}, map[string]string{"RDHOME": conf2}, cval2, "WORD"},
 	}
 
 	for idx, tc := range cases {
@@ -156,10 +150,10 @@ func TestSetupUnmarshal(t *testing.T) {
 		{nil, nil, c("", 0)},
 		// setting on the command line
 		{[]string{"--name", "haha"}, nil, c("haha", 0)},
-		{[]string{"--root", conf1}, nil, c(cval1, 0)},
+		{[]string{"--home", conf1}, nil, c(cval1, 0)},
 		// test both variants of the prefix
 		{nil, map[string]string{"MR_AGE": "56"}, c("", 56)},
-		{nil, map[string]string{"MR_ROOT": conf1}, c(cval1, 0)},
+		{nil, map[string]string{"MR_HOME": conf1}, c(cval1, 0)},
 		{[]string{"--age", "17"}, map[string]string{"MRHOME": conf2}, c(cval2, 17)},
 	}