diff --git a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/driver.dart b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/driver.dart
index 8fec998..ead05a3 100644
--- a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/driver.dart
+++ b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/driver.dart
@@ -688,7 +688,6 @@
             previous.showPackageWarningsPrefix &&
         newOptions.showSdkWarnings == previous.showSdkWarnings &&
         newOptions.lints == previous.lints &&
-        newOptions.strongMode == previous.strongMode &&
         _equalLists(
             newOptions.buildSummaryInputs, previous.buildSummaryInputs) &&
         newOptions.disableCacheFlushing == previous.disableCacheFlushing &&
diff --git a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/options.dart b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/options.dart
index 59bbd3f..e54f8ae 100644
--- a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/options.dart
+++ b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/options.dart
@@ -128,11 +128,6 @@
   /// Whether to treat info level items as fatal
   final bool infosAreFatal;
 
-  /// Whether to use strong static checking.
-  ///
-  /// This flag is deprecated and hard-coded to `true`.
-  final bool strongMode = true;
-
   /// Whether to treat lints as fatal
   // TODO(devoncarew): Deprecate and remove this flag.
   final bool lintsAreFatal;
diff --git a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/perf_report.dart b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/perf_report.dart
index 9f865d3..c032125 100644
--- a/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/perf_report.dart
+++ b/pkg/analyzer_cli/lib/src/perf_report.dart
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 
   var optionsJson = <String, dynamic>{
     'dartSdkPath': options.dartSdkPath,
-    'strongMode': options.strongMode,
     'showPackageWarnings': options.showPackageWarnings,
     'showPackageWarningsPrefix': options.showPackageWarningsPrefix,
     'showSdkWarnings': options.showSdkWarnings,
diff --git a/pkg/analyzer_cli/test/options_test.dart b/pkg/analyzer_cli/test/options_test.dart
index 7aeb145..188a92f 100644
--- a/pkg/analyzer_cli/test/options_test.dart
+++ b/pkg/analyzer_cli/test/options_test.dart
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@
         expect(options.showSdkWarnings, isFalse);
         expect(options.sourceFiles, equals(['foo.dart']));
         expect(options.warningsAreFatal, isFalse);
-        expect(options.strongMode, isTrue);
         expect(options.lintsAreFatal, isFalse);
         expect(options.trainSnapshot, isFalse);
       });
diff --git a/tools/VERSION b/tools/VERSION
index 10ccd8d..08f1ccc 100644
--- a/tools/VERSION
+++ b/tools/VERSION
@@ -27,5 +27,5 @@
 MAJOR 2
 MINOR 10
 PATCH 0
-PRERELEASE 80
+PRERELEASE 81
 PRERELEASE_PATCH 0
\ No newline at end of file