diff --git a/doc/sphinx/userDoc/options.rst b/doc/sphinx/userDoc/options.rst
index b46bee4..8b44126 100644
--- a/doc/sphinx/userDoc/options.rst
+++ b/doc/sphinx/userDoc/options.rst
@@ -289,9 +289,8 @@ HDF5-ONLY
 
   * setAlignment         - HDF5 alignment in bytes (e.g.: 8, 4k, 2m, 1g) [1]
 
-HDF5-backend options
-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-  * --hdf5.collectiveMetadata   - enable HDF5 collective metadata (available since HDF5-1.10.0)
+  * collectiveMetadata   - enable HDF5 collective metadata (available since
+                           HDF5-1.10.0)
 
 MPIIO-, HDF5-, AND NCMPI-ONLY
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
diff --git a/src/aiori-HDF5.c b/src/aiori-HDF5.c
index d1e6eab..1827627 100755
--- a/src/aiori-HDF5.c
+++ b/src/aiori-HDF5.c
@@ -93,7 +93,6 @@ static char* HDF5_GetVersion();
 static void HDF5_Fsync(void *, IOR_param_t *);
 static IOR_offset_t HDF5_GetFileSize(IOR_param_t *, MPI_Comm, char *);
 static int HDF5_Access(const char *, int, IOR_param_t *);
-static option_help * HDF5_get_options();
 
 /************************** D E C L A R A T I O N S ***************************/
 
@@ -113,7 +112,6 @@ ior_aiori_t hdf5_aiori = {
         .rmdir = aiori_posix_rmdir,
         .access = HDF5_Access,
         .stat = aiori_posix_stat,
-        .get_options = HDF5_get_options
 };
 
 static hid_t xferPropList;      /* xfer property list */
@@ -123,27 +121,8 @@ hid_t fileDataSpace;            /* file data space id */
 hid_t memDataSpace;             /* memory data space id */
 int newlyOpenedFile;            /* newly opened file */
 
-/************************** O P T I O N S *****************************/
-struct HDF5_options{
-  int collective_md;
-};
 /***************************** F U N C T I O N S ******************************/
 
-
-static struct HDF5_options o = {
-  .collective_md = 0
-};
-
-static option_help options [] = {
-      {0, "hdf5.collectiveMetadata",        "Use collectiveMetadata (available since HDF5-1.10.0)", OPTION_FLAG, 'd', & o.collective_md},
-      LAST_OPTION
-};
-
-static option_help * HDF5_get_options(){
-  return options;
-}
-
-
 /*
  * Create and open a file through the HDF5 interface.
  */
@@ -251,7 +230,7 @@ static void *HDF5_Open(char *testFileName, IOR_param_t * param)
                    "cannot set alignment");
 
 #ifdef HAVE_H5PSET_ALL_COLL_METADATA_OPS
-        if (o.collective_md) {
+        if (param->collective_md) {
                 /* more scalable metadata */
 
                 HDF5_CHECK(H5Pset_all_coll_metadata_ops(accessPropList, 1),