--- a/fsleyes/main.py
+++ b/fsleyes/main.py
@@ -241,11 +241,12 @@
             wx.CallAfter(fslDirWarning, frame)
 
         # Check for updates
-        if not namespace[0].skipupdatecheck:
-            import fsleyes.actions.updatecheck as updatecheck
-            wx.CallAfter(updatecheck.UpdateCheckAction(),
-                         showUpToDateMessage=False,
-                         showErrorMessage=False)
+        # Debian: needs to be done manually via menu
+        #if not namespace[0].skipupdatecheck:
+        #    import fsleyes.actions.updatecheck as updatecheck
+        #    wx.CallAfter(updatecheck.UpdateCheckAction(),
+        #                 showUpToDateMessage=False,
+        #                 showErrorMessage=False)
 
     # Note: If no wx.Frame is created, the
     # wx.MainLoop call will exit immediately,
--- a/fsleyes/parseargs.py
+++ b/fsleyes/parseargs.py
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@
                        'verbose',
                        'version',
                        'skipfslcheck',
-                       'skipupdatecheck',
+                       #'skipupdatecheck',
                        'noisy',
                        'memory',
                        'glversion',
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@
     'Main.verbose'          : ('v',      'verbose',          False),
     'Main.version'          : ('V',      'version',          False),
     'Main.skipfslcheck'     : ('S',      'skipfslcheck',     False),
-    'Main.skipupdatecheck'  : ('U',      'skipupdatecheck',  False),
+    #'Main.skipupdatecheck'  : ('U',      'skipupdatecheck',  False),
     'Main.noisy'            : ('n',      'noisy',            False),
     'Main.memory'           : ('m',      'memory',           False),
     'Main.glversion'        : ('gl',     'glversion',        True),
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@
     'Main.verbose'         : 'Verbose output (can be used up to 3 times)',
     'Main.version'         : 'Print the current version and exit',
     'Main.skipfslcheck'    : 'Skip $FSLDIR check/warning',
-    'Main.skipupdatecheck' : 'Do not check for FSLeyes updates on startup',
+    #'Main.skipupdatecheck' : 'Do not check for FSLeyes updates on startup',
     'Main.noisy'           : 'Make the specified module noisy',
     'Main.memory'          : 'Output memory events (implied if -v is set)',
     'Main.glversion'       : 'Desired (major, minor) OpenGL version',
@@ -1264,9 +1264,9 @@
     mainParser.add_argument(*mainArgs['skipfslcheck'],
                             action='store_true',
                             help=mainHelp['skipfslcheck'])
-    mainParser.add_argument(*mainArgs['skipupdatecheck'],
-                            action='store_true',
-                            help=mainHelp['skipupdatecheck']) 
+    #mainParser.add_argument(*mainArgs['skipupdatecheck'],
+    #                        action='store_true',
+    #                        help=mainHelp['skipupdatecheck']) 
 
     # Debug messages are stripped from frozen
     # versions of FSLeyes, so there's no point
