diff --git a/aodh/event.py b/aodh/event.py
index a64e29a82..0ad94bdb8 100644
--- a/aodh/event.py
+++ b/aodh/event.py
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ OPTS = [
                help='Number of notification messages to wait before '
                'dispatching them.'),
     cfg.IntOpt('batch_timeout',
-               default=None,
                help='Number of seconds to wait before dispatching samples '
                'when batch_size is not reached (None means indefinitely).'),
 ]
diff --git a/aodh/notifier/__init__.py b/aodh/notifier/__init__.py
index 29afa3e50..00b580541 100644
--- a/aodh/notifier/__init__.py
+++ b/aodh/notifier/__init__.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ OPTS = [
                help='Number of notification messages to wait before '
                     'dispatching them.'),
     cfg.IntOpt('batch_timeout',
-               default=None,
                help='Number of seconds to wait before dispatching samples '
                     'when batch_size is not reached (None means indefinitely).'
                ),