diff --git a/artiq/frontend/artiq_browser.py b/artiq/frontend/artiq_browser.py
index e1de979bd..5533db20a 100755
--- a/artiq/frontend/artiq_browser.py
+++ b/artiq/frontend/artiq_browser.py
@@ -51,20 +51,6 @@ class MainWindow(QtWidgets.QMainWindow):
         self.restoreState(QtCore.QByteArray(state["state"]))
 
 
-class MdiArea(QtWidgets.QMdiArea):
-    def __init__(self):
-        QtWidgets.QMdiArea.__init__(self)
-        self.pixmap = QtGui.QPixmap(os.path.join(artiq_dir, "gui", "logo.svg"))
-
-    def paintEvent(self, event):
-        QtWidgets.QMdiArea.paintEvent(self, event)
-        painter = QtGui.QPainter(self.viewport())
-        x = (self.width() - self.pixmap.width())//2
-        y = (self.height() - self.pixmap.height())//2
-        painter.setOpacity(0.5)
-        painter.drawPixmap(x, y, self.pixmap)
-
-
 def main():
     # initialize application
     args = get_argparser().parse_args()
@@ -83,10 +69,6 @@ def main():
     smgr.register(main_window)
     status_bar = QtWidgets.QStatusBar()
     main_window.setStatusBar(status_bar)
-    mdi_area = MdiArea()
-    mdi_area.setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(QtCore.Qt.ScrollBarAsNeeded)
-    mdi_area.setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(QtCore.Qt.ScrollBarAsNeeded)
-    main_window.setCentralWidget(mdi_area)
 
     d_results = results.ResultsBrowser(datasets_sub)
     smgr.register(d_results)