diff --git a/deploy/default-backend.yaml b/deploy/default-backend.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 5bd95c07b2..0000000000
--- a/deploy/default-backend.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
-apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  name: default-http-backend
-  labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-  namespace: ingress-nginx
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-      app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-        app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-    spec:
-      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
-      containers:
-        - name: default-http-backend
-          # Any image is permissible as long as:
-          # 1. It serves a 404 page at /
-          # 2. It serves 200 on a /healthz endpoint
-          image: k8s.gcr.io/defaultbackend-amd64:1.5
-          livenessProbe:
-            httpGet:
-              path: /healthz
-              port: 8080
-              scheme: HTTP
-            initialDelaySeconds: 30
-            timeoutSeconds: 5
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 8080
-          resources:
-            limits:
-              cpu: 10m
-              memory: 20Mi
-            requests:
-              cpu: 10m
-              memory: 20Mi
-
----
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  name: default-http-backend
-  namespace: ingress-nginx
-  labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-spec:
-  ports:
-    - port: 80
-      targetPort: 8080
-  selector:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-
----
-
diff --git a/deploy/mandatory.yaml b/deploy/mandatory.yaml
index ee8aa5ed71..27d3d67a70 100644
--- a/deploy/mandatory.yaml
+++ b/deploy/mandatory.yaml
@@ -5,69 +5,6 @@ metadata:
 
 ---
 
-apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
-kind: Deployment
-metadata:
-  name: default-http-backend
-  labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-  namespace: ingress-nginx
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-      app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-        app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-    spec:
-      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
-      containers:
-        - name: default-http-backend
-          # Any image is permissible as long as:
-          # 1. It serves a 404 page at /
-          # 2. It serves 200 on a /healthz endpoint
-          image: k8s.gcr.io/defaultbackend-amd64:1.5
-          livenessProbe:
-            httpGet:
-              path: /healthz
-              port: 8080
-              scheme: HTTP
-            initialDelaySeconds: 30
-            timeoutSeconds: 5
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 8080
-          resources:
-            limits:
-              cpu: 10m
-              memory: 20Mi
-            requests:
-              cpu: 10m
-              memory: 20Mi
-
----
-apiVersion: v1
-kind: Service
-metadata:
-  name: default-http-backend
-  namespace: ingress-nginx
-  labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-spec:
-  ports:
-    - port: 80
-      targetPort: 8080
-  selector:
-    app.kubernetes.io/name: default-http-backend
-    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: ingress-nginx
-
----
-
 kind: ConfigMap
 apiVersion: v1
 metadata:
@@ -277,7 +214,6 @@ spec:
           image: quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx-ingress-controller:0.20.0
           args:
             - /nginx-ingress-controller
-            - --default-backend-service=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/default-http-backend
             - --configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-configuration
             - --tcp-services-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/tcp-services
             - --udp-services-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/udp-services
diff --git a/deploy/with-rbac.yaml b/deploy/with-rbac.yaml
index 07cc1289be..636f178bc5 100644
--- a/deploy/with-rbac.yaml
+++ b/deploy/with-rbac.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ spec:
           image: quay.io/kubernetes-ingress-controller/nginx-ingress-controller:0.20.0
           args:
             - /nginx-ingress-controller
-            - --default-backend-service=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/default-http-backend
             - --configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-configuration
             - --tcp-services-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/tcp-services
             - --udp-services-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/udp-services
diff --git a/hack/build-single-manifest-sh b/hack/build-single-manifest-sh
index 886dcd6a0d..dd29ab55c1 100755
--- a/hack/build-single-manifest-sh
+++ b/hack/build-single-manifest-sh
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 
 SCRIPT_ROOT=$(dirname ${BASH_SOURCE})/..
 
-INPUT="namespace.yaml default-backend.yaml configmap.yaml tcp-services-configmap.yaml udp-services-configmap.yaml rbac.yaml with-rbac.yaml"
+INPUT="namespace.yaml configmap.yaml tcp-services-configmap.yaml udp-services-configmap.yaml rbac.yaml with-rbac.yaml"
 MANIFEST=$(cd ${SCRIPT_ROOT}/deploy; cat ${INPUT})
 
 echo "${MANIFEST}" > ${SCRIPT_ROOT}/deploy/mandatory.yaml