diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 7f2d6c58..a8a747b6 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@ gem 'rails', '~> 4.0.0'
 gem 'devise', '~> 3.2.2'
 gem 'psych', '~> 2.0.2' # part of stdlib, need newer version for safe_load
 
-# change back to cookie-based store (encrypted)
-gem 'activerecord-session_store'
-
 gem 'rubyzip', '1.3.0'
 
 gem 'jquery-rails', '~> 3.1.3'
diff --git a/config/initializers/session_store.rb b/config/initializers/session_store.rb
index dffa6c51..9084253c 100644
--- a/config/initializers/session_store.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/session_store.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,3 @@
 # Be sure to restart your server when you modify this file.
 
-# NZTrain::Application.config.session_store :cookie_store, :key => '_nztrain-v2_session'
-
-# Use the database for sessions instead of the cookie-based default,
-# which shouldn't be used to store highly confidential information
-# (create the session table with "rails generate session_migration")
-NZTrain::Application.config.session_store :active_record_store
+NZTrain::Application.config.session_store :cookie_store, :key => '_nztrain_session'