diff --git a/cmd/godoc/main.go b/cmd/godoc/main.go
index c59c0df89b..227e29b148 100644
--- a/cmd/godoc/main.go
+++ b/cmd/godoc/main.go
@@ -153,13 +153,6 @@ func handleURLFlag() {
 	log.Fatalf("too many redirects")
 }
 
-func initCorpus(corpus *godoc.Corpus) {
-	err := corpus.Init()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-}
-
 func main() {
 	flag.Usage = usage
 	flag.Parse()
@@ -238,10 +231,8 @@ func main() {
 		corpus.IndexEnabled = true
 	}
 	if *writeIndex || httpMode || *urlFlag != "" {
-		if httpMode {
-			go initCorpus(corpus)
-		} else {
-			initCorpus(corpus)
+		if err := corpus.Init(); err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -332,9 +323,6 @@ func main() {
 		}
 
 		// Start http server.
-		if *verbose {
-			log.Println("starting http server")
-		}
 		if err := http.ListenAndServe(*httpAddr, handler); err != nil {
 			log.Fatalf("ListenAndServe %s: %v", *httpAddr, err)
 		}
diff --git a/godoc/corpus.go b/godoc/corpus.go
index 8e38365a95..f2c7ebbf37 100644
--- a/godoc/corpus.go
+++ b/godoc/corpus.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package godoc
 import (
 	"errors"
 	pathpkg "path"
-	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/tools/godoc/analysis"
@@ -104,10 +103,6 @@ type Corpus struct {
 
 	// Analysis is the result of type and pointer analysis.
 	Analysis analysis.Result
-
-	// flag to check whether a corpus is initialized or not
-	initMu   sync.RWMutex
-	initDone bool
 }
 
 // NewCorpus returns a new Corpus from a filesystem.
@@ -141,15 +136,13 @@ func (c *Corpus) FSModifiedTime() time.Time {
 // Init initializes Corpus, once options on Corpus are set.
 // It must be called before any subsequent method calls.
 func (c *Corpus) Init() error {
+	// TODO(bradfitz): do this in a goroutine because newDirectory might block for a long time?
+	// It used to be sometimes done in a goroutine before, at least in HTTP server mode.
 	if err := c.initFSTree(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	c.updateMetadata()
 	go c.refreshMetadataLoop()
-
-	c.initMu.Lock()
-	c.initDone = true
-	c.initMu.Unlock()
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/godoc/server.go b/godoc/server.go
index 3ebff5c52d..3b452e5eda 100644
--- a/godoc/server.go
+++ b/godoc/server.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package godoc
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"go/ast"
 	"go/build"
@@ -249,12 +248,6 @@ func (h *handlerServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	relpath := pathpkg.Clean(r.URL.Path[len(h.stripPrefix)+1:])
-
-	if !h.corpusInitialized() {
-		h.p.ServeError(w, r, relpath, errors.New("Scan is not yet complete. Please retry after a few moments"))
-		return
-	}
-
 	abspath := pathpkg.Join(h.fsRoot, relpath)
 	mode := h.p.GetPageInfoMode(r)
 	if relpath == builtinPkgPath {
@@ -329,12 +322,6 @@ func (h *handlerServer) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	})
 }
 
-func (h *handlerServer) corpusInitialized() bool {
-	h.c.initMu.RLock()
-	defer h.c.initMu.RUnlock()
-	return h.c.initDone
-}
-
 type PageInfoMode uint
 
 const (