diff --git a/config/nginx.sample.conf b/config/nginx.sample.conf
index 6e846f2a9..e9d815fc9 100644
--- a/config/nginx.sample.conf
+++ b/config/nginx.sample.conf
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ server {
     internal;
   }
 
+  # return a cheap 404 for favicon cause lots of browsers like asking for it
+  # view source and old browsers, this bypasses the rails stack at the expense of
+  # having an ugly 404 page
+  location /favicon.ico {
+    return 404;
+  }
+
   location / {
     root $public;
     add_header ETag "";
diff --git a/public/favicon.ico b/public/favicon.ico
deleted file mode 100644
index 25dd82c5c..000000000
Binary files a/public/favicon.ico and /dev/null differ