diff --git a/kafka/consumer/group.py b/kafka/consumer/group.py
index 751403f52..071371b98 100644
--- a/kafka/consumer/group.py
+++ b/kafka/consumer/group.py
@@ -327,7 +327,6 @@ class KafkaConsumer(six.Iterator):
         'sasl_kerberos_domain_name': None,
         'sasl_oauth_token_provider': None,
         'socks5_proxy': None,
-        'legacy_iterator': False, # enable to revert to < 1.4.7 iterator
         'kafka_client': KafkaClient,
     }
     DEFAULT_SESSION_TIMEOUT_MS_0_9 = 30000
@@ -845,8 +844,7 @@ def seek(self, partition, offset):
         assert partition in self._subscription.assigned_partitions(), 'Unassigned partition'
         log.debug("Seeking to offset %s for partition %s", offset, partition)
         self._subscription.assignment[partition].seek(offset)
-        if not self.config['legacy_iterator']:
-            self._iterator = None
+        self._iterator = None
 
     def seek_to_beginning(self, *partitions):
         """Seek to the oldest available offset for partitions.
@@ -871,8 +869,7 @@ def seek_to_beginning(self, *partitions):
         for tp in partitions:
             log.debug("Seeking to beginning of partition %s", tp)
             self._subscription.need_offset_reset(tp, OffsetResetStrategy.EARLIEST)
-        if not self.config['legacy_iterator']:
-            self._iterator = None
+        self._iterator = None
 
     def seek_to_end(self, *partitions):
         """Seek to the most recent available offset for partitions.
@@ -897,8 +894,7 @@ def seek_to_end(self, *partitions):
         for tp in partitions:
             log.debug("Seeking to end of partition %s", tp)
             self._subscription.need_offset_reset(tp, OffsetResetStrategy.LATEST)
-        if not self.config['legacy_iterator']:
-            self._iterator = None
+        self._iterator = None
 
     def subscribe(self, topics=(), pattern=None, listener=None):
         """Subscribe to a list of topics, or a topic regex pattern.
@@ -974,8 +970,7 @@ def unsubscribe(self):
         self._client.cluster.need_all_topic_metadata = False
         self._client.set_topics([])
         log.debug("Unsubscribed all topics or patterns and assigned partitions")
-        if not self.config['legacy_iterator']:
-            self._iterator = None
+        self._iterator = None
 
     def metrics(self, raw=False):
         """Get metrics on consumer performance.
@@ -1157,73 +1152,12 @@ def _message_generator_v2(self):
                 self._subscription.assignment[tp].position = OffsetAndMetadata(record.offset + 1, '', -1)
                 yield record
 
-    def _message_generator(self):
-        assert self.assignment() or self.subscription() is not None, 'No topic subscription or manual partition assignment'
-
-        def inner_poll_ms():
-            return max(0, min((1000 * (self._consumer_timeout - time.time())), self.config['retry_backoff_ms']))
-
-        while time.time() < self._consumer_timeout:
-
-            if not self._coordinator.poll(timeout_ms=inner_poll_ms()):
-                continue
-
-            # Fetch offsets for any subscribed partitions that we arent tracking yet
-            if not self._subscription.has_all_fetch_positions():
-                partitions = self._subscription.missing_fetch_positions()
-                self._update_fetch_positions(partitions)
-
-            self._client.poll(timeout_ms=inner_poll_ms())
-
-            # after the long poll, we should check whether the group needs to rebalance
-            # prior to returning data so that the group can stabilize faster
-            if self._coordinator.need_rejoin():
-                continue
-
-            # We need to make sure we at least keep up with scheduled tasks,
-            # like heartbeats, auto-commits, and metadata refreshes
-            timeout_at = self._next_timeout()
-
-            # Short-circuit the fetch iterator if we are already timed out
-            # to avoid any unintentional interaction with fetcher setup
-            if time.time() > timeout_at:
-                continue
-
-            for msg in self._fetcher:
-                yield msg
-                if time.time() > timeout_at:
-                    log.debug("internal iterator timeout - breaking for poll")
-                    break
-                self._client.poll(timeout_ms=0)
-
-            # An else block on a for loop only executes if there was no break
-            # so this should only be called on a StopIteration from the fetcher
-            # We assume that it is safe to init_fetches when fetcher is done
-            # i.e., there are no more records stored internally
-            else:
-                self._fetcher.send_fetches()
-
-    def _next_timeout(self):
-        timeout = min(self._consumer_timeout,
-                      self._client.cluster.ttl() / 1000.0 + time.time(),
-                      self._coordinator.time_to_next_poll() + time.time())
-        return timeout
-
     def __iter__(self):  # pylint: disable=non-iterator-returned
         return self
 
     def __next__(self):
         if self._closed:
             raise StopIteration('KafkaConsumer closed')
-        # Now that the heartbeat thread runs in the background
-        # there should be no reason to maintain a separate iterator
-        # but we'll keep it available for a few releases just in case
-        if self.config['legacy_iterator']:
-            return self.next_v1()
-        else:
-            return self.next_v2()
-
-    def next_v2(self):
         self._set_consumer_timeout()
         while time.time() < self._consumer_timeout:
             if not self._iterator:
@@ -1234,17 +1168,6 @@ def next_v2(self):
                 self._iterator = None
         raise StopIteration()
 
-    def next_v1(self):
-        if not self._iterator:
-            self._iterator = self._message_generator()
-
-        self._set_consumer_timeout()
-        try:
-            return next(self._iterator)
-        except StopIteration:
-            self._iterator = None
-            raise
-
     def _set_consumer_timeout(self):
         # consumer_timeout_ms can be used to stop iteration early
         if self.config['consumer_timeout_ms'] >= 0: