diff --git a/runtime/runtime_args.gni b/runtime/runtime_args.gni
index 35e6e7c760e..381d94acca5 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime_args.gni
+++ b/runtime/runtime_args.gni
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ declare_args() {
     dart_component_kind = "static_library"
   }
 
-  # Controls whether the VM uses bytecode.
-  dart_platform_bytecode = true
+  # Whether the VM's platform dill file contains bytecode.
+  dart_platform_bytecode = false
 
   # Whether the VM includes the kernel service in all modes (debug, release,
   # product).
diff --git a/tools/gn.py b/tools/gn.py
index 14f5a4b5d42..445d4b7a043 100755
--- a/tools/gn.py
+++ b/tools/gn.py
@@ -428,14 +428,9 @@ def parse_args(args):
     other_group.add_argument(
         '--bytecode',
         '-b',
-        help='Use bytecode in Dart VM',
-        default=True,
+        help='Include bytecode in the VMs platform dill',
+        default=False,
         action="store_true")
-    other_group.add_argument(
-        '--no-bytecode',
-        help='Disable bytecode in Dart VM',
-        dest='bytecode',
-        action="store_false")
     other_group.add_argument(
         '--clang', help='Use Clang', default=True, action='store_true')
     other_group.add_argument(