diff --git a/tuf/log.py b/tuf/log.py
index b34c0a5c..c74227d4 100755
--- a/tuf/log.py
+++ b/tuf/log.py
@@ -52,14 +52,6 @@
 _FORMAT_STRING = "[%(asctime)s] [%(name)s] [%(levelname)s] %(message)s"
 formatter = logging.Formatter(_FORMAT_STRING)
 
-# Set the handlers for the logger.
-# The built-in stream handler will log
-# messages to 'sys.stderr' and capture
-# '_DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL' messages.
-stream_handler = logging.StreamHandler()
-stream_handler.setLevel(_DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL)
-stream_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
-
 # Set the built-in file handler.  Messages
 # will be logged to '_DEFAULT_LOG_FILENAME'
 # and use the logger's default log level.
@@ -70,7 +62,6 @@
 # Set the logger and its settings.
 logger = logging.getLogger('tuf')
 logger.setLevel(_DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL)
-logger.addHandler(stream_handler)
 logger.addHandler(file_handler)
 
 # Silently ignore logger exceptions.
@@ -103,4 +94,3 @@ def set_log_level(log_level):
   """
 
   logger.setLevel(log_level)
-  stream_handler.setLevel(log_level)