diff --git a/scrapy/addons/__init__.py b/scrapy/addons/__init__.py
index a1a9a388a..40a98676d 100644
--- a/scrapy/addons/__init__.py
+++ b/scrapy/addons/__init__.py
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ from zope.interface.verify import verifyObject
 
 from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.interfaces import IAddon
-from scrapy.utils.conf import (build_component_list, config_from_filepath,
-                               get_config)
+from scrapy.utils.conf import build_component_list
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_module_or_object
 from scrapy.utils.project import get_project_path
 
@@ -325,31 +324,6 @@ class AddonManager(Mapping):
         for a, c in zip(addons, configs):
             self.add(a, c)
 
-    def load_cfg(self, cfg=None):
-        """Load add-ons and configurations from given ``ConfigParser`` object or
-        config file path.
-
-        Each add-on should have its own section, where the section has a name in
-        the form ``addon:my_addon_path``. The add-on object is searched for via
-        the :meth:`get_addon` method, ``my_addon_path`` can be either a Python
-        or a file path.
-
-        If ``cfg`` is ``None``, ``scrapy.cfg`` will be used.
-
-        :param cfg: ``ConfigParser`` object or config file path from which to \
-            read add-on configuration
-        :type cfg: ``ConfigParser`` or ``str``
-        """
-        if cfg is None:
-            cfg = get_config()
-        elif isinstance(cfg, six.string_types):
-            cfg = config_from_filepath(cfg)
-        for secname in cfg.sections():
-            if secname.startswith("addon:"):
-                addonkey = secname.split("addon:", 1)[1]
-                addoncfg = dict(cfg.items(secname))
-                self.add(addonkey, addoncfg)
-
     def check_dependency_clashes(self):
         """Check for incompatibilities in add-on dependencies.
 
diff --git a/scrapy/cmdline.py b/scrapy/cmdline.py
index b403df570..b7c349793 100644
--- a/scrapy/cmdline.py
+++ b/scrapy/cmdline.py
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ def execute(argv=None, settings=None):
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
     addons = AddonManager()
-    addons.load_cfg()
 
     inproject = inside_project()
     cmds = _get_commands_dict(settings, inproject)
diff --git a/tests/test_addons/__init__.py b/tests/test_addons/__init__.py
index aa8dfbb63..f10819685 100644
--- a/tests/test_addons/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/test_addons/__init__.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ from scrapy.addons import Addon, AddonManager
 from scrapy.crawler import Crawler
 from scrapy.interfaces import IAddon
 from scrapy.settings import BaseSettings
-from scrapy.utils.conf import config_from_filepath
 
 from . import addons
 from . import addonmod
@@ -107,7 +106,6 @@ class AddonTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
 class AddonManagerTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
-    TESTCFGPATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'cfg.cfg')
     ADDONMODPATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'addonmod.py')
 
     def setUp(self):
@@ -262,24 +260,6 @@ class AddonManagerTest(unittest.TestCase):
             })
             _test_load_method(expected_order, 'load_settings', settings)
 
-    def test_load_cfg(self):
-        def _check_loaded_addons(manager):
-            six.assertCountEqual(self, manager, ['GoodAddon', 'AddonModule'])
-            self.assertIsInstance(manager['GoodAddon'], addons.GoodAddon)
-            six.assertCountEqual(self, manager.configs['GoodAddon'], ['key'])
-            self.assertEqual(manager.configs['GoodAddon']['key'], 'val1')
-            # XXX: Check module equality, see above
-            self.assertEqual(manager['AddonModule'].name, addonmod.name)
-            six.assertCountEqual(self, manager.configs['AddonModule'], ['key'])
-            self.assertEqual(manager.configs['AddonModule']['key'], 'val2')
-        manager = AddonManager()
-        manager.load_cfg(self.TESTCFGPATH)
-        _check_loaded_addons(manager)
-        manager = AddonManager()
-        preloaded_cfg = config_from_filepath(self.TESTCFGPATH)
-        manager.load_cfg(preloaded_cfg)
-        _check_loaded_addons(manager)
-
     def test_enabled_disabled(self):
         manager = AddonManager()
         manager.add(addons.GoodAddon('FirstAddon'))
diff --git a/tests/test_addons/cfg.cfg b/tests/test_addons/cfg.cfg
deleted file mode 100644
index 98c4f0f25..000000000
--- a/tests/test_addons/cfg.cfg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-[addon:tests.test_addons.addons.GoodAddon]
-key = val1
-
-[addon:tests/test_addons/addonmod.py]
-key = val2