diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 13b2b999c..9b0f71038 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -114,13 +114,6 @@ commands =
 [testenv:codechecks]
 basepython = python2.7
 setenv =
-         # Workaround an error when towncrier is run under the VCS hook,
-         # https://stackoverflow.com/a/4027726/624787:
-         #   File "/home/rpatterson/src/work/sfu/tahoe-lafs/.tox/codechecks/lib/python2.7/site-packages/towncrier/check.py", line 44, in __main
-         #     .decode(getattr(sys.stdout, "encoding", "utf8"))
-         # `TypeError: decode() argument 1 must be string, not None`
-         PYTHONIOENCODING=utf_8
-
 	 # If no positional arguments are given, try to run the checks on the
 	 # entire codebase, including various pieces of supporting code.
 	 DEFAULT_FILES=src integration static misc setup.py
@@ -190,7 +183,7 @@ passenv = TAHOE_LAFS_* PIP_* SUBUNITREPORTER_* USERPROFILE HOMEDRIVE HOMEPATH HO
 whitelist_externals =
     git
 deps =
-    # see comment in [testenv] about "certifi"    
+    # see comment in [testenv] about "certifi"
     certifi
     towncrier==21.3.0
 commands =