diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 08ca2e8b1..70367c347 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 source 'http://rubygems.org'
 
 gem 'bundler', '> 1.1.0'
-ruby '1.9.3' if ENV['HEROKU']
 
 gem 'rails', '3.2.8'
 
@@ -44,12 +43,12 @@ group :production do # we don't install these on travis to speed up test runs
   # analytics
   gem 'rack-google-analytics', '0.11.0', :require => 'rack/google-analytics'
   gem 'rack-piwik', '0.1.3', :require => 'rack/piwik', :require => false
+  
 end
 
 # configuration
 
 group :heroku do
-  gem 'pg', '0.14.1'
   gem 'unicorn', '4.3.1', :require => false
 end
 
@@ -124,8 +123,7 @@ group :assets do
   gem 'handlebars_assets', '0.6.5'
   gem 'uglifier', '1.3.0'
 
-  # asset_sync is required as needed by application.rb
-  gem "asset_sync", '0.5.0', :require => nil
+  gem "asset_sync", '0.5.0', :require => false
 end
 
 gem 'jquery-rails', '2.1.3'
@@ -169,8 +167,6 @@ group :test, :development do
 end
 
 group :development do
-  gem 'heroku', '2.31.4'
-  gem 'heroku_san', '3.0.4'
   gem 'capistrano', '2.12.0', :require => false
   gem 'capistrano_colors', '0.5.5', :require => false
   gem 'capistrano-ext', '1.2.1', :require => false
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 081e2a5cf..683bff3b3 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -179,19 +179,6 @@ GEM
       sprockets (>= 2.0.3)
       tilt
     hashie (1.2.0)
-    heroku (2.31.4)
-      heroku-api (~> 0.3.5)
-      launchy (>= 0.3.2)
-      netrc (~> 0.7.7)
-      rest-client (~> 1.6.1)
-      rubyzip
-    heroku-api (0.3.5)
-      excon (~> 0.16.1)
-    heroku_san (3.0.4)
-      activesupport
-      heroku (>= 2)
-      heroku-api (>= 0.1.2)
-      rake
     highline (1.6.12)
     hike (1.2.1)
     hodel_3000_compliant_logger (0.1.0)
@@ -223,8 +210,6 @@ GEM
       actionpack (>= 3.0.0)
       activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
     kgio (2.7.4)
-    launchy (2.1.2)
-      addressable (~> 2.3)
     libwebsocket (0.1.5)
     listen (0.4.2)
       rb-fchange (~> 0.0.5)
@@ -253,7 +238,6 @@ GEM
       jruby-pageant (>= 1.1.1)
     net-ssh-gateway (1.1.0)
       net-ssh (>= 1.99.1)
-    netrc (0.7.7)
     newrelic_rpm (3.3.5)
     nokogiri (1.5.5)
     oauth (0.4.6)
@@ -281,7 +265,6 @@ GEM
       multi_json (~> 1.3)
       omniauth-oauth (~> 1.0)
     orm_adapter (0.4.0)
-    pg (0.14.1)
     polyglot (0.3.3)
     rack (1.4.1)
     rack-cache (1.2)
@@ -355,8 +338,6 @@ GEM
       vegas (~> 0.1.2)
     resque-timeout (1.0.0)
       resque (~> 1.0)
-    rest-client (1.6.7)
-      mime-types (>= 1.16)
     rpm_contrib (2.1.11)
       newrelic_rpm (>= 3.1.1)
       newrelic_rpm (>= 3.1.1)
@@ -473,8 +454,6 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   guard-spork (= 0.8.0)
   haml (= 3.1.7)
   handlebars_assets (= 0.6.5)
-  heroku (= 2.31.4)
-  heroku_san (= 3.0.4)
   http_accept_language (= 1.0.2)
   i18n-inflector-rails (~> 1.0)
   jasmine (= 1.2.1)
@@ -492,7 +471,6 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   omniauth-facebook (= 1.3.0)
   omniauth-tumblr (= 1.0)
   omniauth-twitter (= 0.0.11)
-  pg (= 0.14.1)
   rack-cors (= 0.2.7)
   rack-google-analytics (= 0.11.0)
   rack-piwik (= 0.1.3)
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 0101be8b4..0d82c7492 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -99,8 +99,3 @@ module Diaspora
 
   end
 end
-
-# Only load asset_sync if S3 is configured
-if RAILS_GROUPS.include?(:assets) && ENV['AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID']
-  require 'asset_sync'
-end
diff --git a/config/heroku.yml.example b/config/heroku.yml.example
deleted file mode 100644
index ba76bc21c..000000000
--- a/config/heroku.yml.example
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-defaults: &defaults
-  HEROKU: true
-  application_yml: <%= '../' + '../' +'config/' + 'diaspora.yml.example' %>
-production: 
-  app: production
-  stack: cedar
-  config: 
-    <<: *defaults
-    BUNDLE_WITHOUT: "development:test"
-    HOME_FILE: 'app/views/home/_show.html.haml'
-staging:
-  app: staging
-  stack: cedar
-  config: 
-    <<: *defaults
-    BUNDLE_WITHOUT: "development:test"
-    HOME_FILE: 'app/views/home/_show.html.haml'
diff --git a/lib/tasks/after_deploy.rake b/lib/tasks/after_deploy.rake
deleted file mode 100644
index 9a8684a34..000000000
--- a/lib/tasks/after_deploy.rake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-desc "revert custom landing page commit after heroku san deploys"
-task :after_deploy => :environment do
-
-  # Perform this task only if custom landing page is not present in app/views/home/_show.html.haml
-  if (File.exist?(Rails.root.join("app", "views", "home", "_show.html.erb")) || File.exist?(Rails.root.join("app", "views", "home", "_show.mobile.erb"))) && system("git log | head -5 | grep 'custom\ landing\ page(s)'")
-    puts "-----> resetting HEAD before custom landing page commit"
-
-    system("git reset HEAD^") ? true : fail
-    system("git stash pop") unless @did_not_stash
-
-    puts "-----> done"
-  end
-
-end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/before_deploy.rake b/lib/tasks/before_deploy.rake
deleted file mode 100644
index d56f1f55f..000000000
--- a/lib/tasks/before_deploy.rake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-desc "include custom landing page before heroku san deploys"
-task :before_deploy => :environment do
-
-    each_heroku_app do |stage|
-      desktop_home_file = stage.config['HOME_FILE_DESKTOP']
-      mobile_home_file = stage.config['HOME_FILE_MOBILE']
-      # Perform this task only if custom landing page is not present in app/views/home/_show.html.haml
-    if desktop_home_file.present? || mobile_home_file.present?
-      puts "-----> custom landing page(s) detected..."
-      puts "-----> including custom landing page(s) in a temp commit"
-
-      @did_not_stash = system("git stash| grep 'No local changes to save'")      
-      system("git add #{desktop_home_file} -f") ? true : fail
-      system("git add #{mobile_home_file} -f") ? true : fail
-      system("git commit -m 'adding custom landing page(s) for heroku'") ? true : fail
-
-      puts "-----> done"
-    end
-  end
-
-end
diff --git a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake b/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
deleted file mode 100644
index 87ed08c09..000000000
--- a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
- #Copyright (c) 2012, Diaspora Inc.  This file is
- #licensed under the Affero General Public License version 3 or later.  See
- #the COPYRIGHT file.
-
-namespace :heroku do
-  HEROKU_CONFIG_ADD_COMMAND = "heroku config:add"
-
-  task :generate_secret_token do
-    puts "Generating and setting a new secret token"
-    token = SecureRandom.hex(40) #reloads secret token every time you reload vars.... this expires cookies, and kinda sucks
-    command = "#{HEROKU_CONFIG_ADD_COMMAND} SECRET_TOKEN=#{token}"
-    puts command
-    system command
-  end
-
-  task :install_requirements do
-    system 'heroku addons:remove logging:basic'
-    system 'heroku addons:add logging:expanded'
-    system 'heroku addons:add redistogo:nano'
-  end
-
-  task :set_up_s3_sync => [:environment] do
-    fog_provider = "FOG_PROVIDER=AWS"
-    aws_access_key_id = "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=#{AppConfig.environment.s3.key}"
-    aws_secret_access_key = "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=#{AppConfig.environment.s3.secret}"
-    fog = "FOG_DIRECTORY=#{AppConfig.environment.s3.bucket}"
-    asset_host = "ASSET_HOST=https://#{AppConfig.environment.s3.bucket}.s3.amazonaws.com"
-    
-    each_heroku_app do |stage|
-      system("heroku labs:enable user_env_compile -a #{stage.app}")
-      stage.run('config:add', "#{fog} #{fog_provider} #{aws_secret_access_key} #{aws_access_key_id} ASSET_HOST=#{asset_host}")
-    end
-  end
-end