diff --git a/src/bench/checkqueue.cpp b/src/bench/checkqueue.cpp
index c03457c78c..6bfe4e6d83 100644
--- a/src/bench/checkqueue.cpp
+++ b/src/bench/checkqueue.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ static void CCheckQueueSpeedPrevectorJob(benchmark::State &state) {
         void swap(PrevectorJob &x) { p.swap(x.p); };
     };
     CCheckQueue<PrevectorJob> queue{QUEUE_BATCH_SIZE};
-    queue.StartWorkerThreads(std::max(MIN_CORES, GetNumCores()));
+    queue.StartWorkerThreads(std::max(MIN_CORES, GetNumCores()) - 1);
     while (state.KeepRunning()) {
         // Make insecure_rand here so that each iteration is identical.
         FastRandomContext insecure_rand(true);
diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 335cb4c2e2..819afd6e34 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -2105,7 +2105,6 @@ bool AppInitMain(Config &config, RPCServer &rpcServer,
 
     LogPrintf("Script verification uses %d additional threads\n", script_threads);
     if (script_threads >= 1) {
-        g_parallel_script_checks = true;
         StartScriptCheckWorkerThreads(script_threads);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/setup_common.cpp b/src/test/setup_common.cpp
index 4f880e0ebf..3fd290fc06 100644
--- a/src/test/setup_common.cpp
+++ b/src/test/setup_common.cpp
@@ -122,10 +122,9 @@ TestingSetup::TestingSetup(const std::string &chainName)
         }
     }
 
-    // Start script-checking threads. Set g_parallel_script_checks to true so they are used.
+    // Start script-checking threads
     constexpr int script_check_threads = 2;
     StartScriptCheckWorkerThreads(script_check_threads);
-    g_parallel_script_checks = true;
 
     g_banman =
         std::make_unique<BanMan>(GetDataDir() / "banlist.dat", chainparams,
diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index 009539274b..d5402e0597 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -260,7 +260,6 @@ CBlockIndex *pindexBestHeader = nullptr;
 Mutex g_best_block_mutex;
 std::condition_variable g_best_block_cv;
 uint256 g_best_block;
-bool g_parallel_script_checks{false};
 std::atomic_bool fImporting(false);
 std::atomic_bool fReindex(false);
 bool fHavePruned = false;
@@ -1892,7 +1891,7 @@ bool CChainState::ConnectBlock(const CBlock &block, CValidationState &state,
     CBlockUndo blockundo;
     blockundo.vtxundo.resize(block.vtx.size() - 1);
 
-    CCheckQueueControl<CScriptCheck> control(fScriptChecks && g_parallel_script_checks ? &scriptcheckqueue : nullptr);
+    CCheckQueueControl<CScriptCheck> control(fScriptChecks ? &scriptcheckqueue : nullptr);
 
     // Add all outputs
     try {
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index 036db1b48b..e8aba55a7d 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -207,10 +207,6 @@ extern uint256 g_best_block;
 extern std::atomic_bool fImporting;
 extern std::atomic_bool fReindex;
 extern bool fIsBareMultisigStd;
-/** Whether there are dedicated script-checking threads running.
- * False indicates all script checking is done on the main threadMessageHandler thread.
- */
-extern bool g_parallel_script_checks;
 extern bool fRequireStandard;
 extern bool fCheckBlockIndex;
 extern bool fCheckpointsEnabled;