diff --git a/Changes.rst b/Changes.rst
index 1343034e..abd72586 100644
--- a/Changes.rst
+++ b/Changes.rst
@@ -251,6 +251,10 @@ User-visible Changes
   as the VPN server, are dropped. This could be disabled with
   --allow-recursive-routing option.
 
+- on Windows, when the ``--register-dns`` option is set, OpenVPN no longer
+  restarts the ``dnscache`` service - this had unwanted side effects, and
+  seems to be no longer necessary with currently supported Windows versions.
+
 Maintainer-visible changes
 --------------------------
 - OpenVPN no longer supports building with crypto support, but without TLS
diff --git a/doc/openvpn.8 b/doc/openvpn.8
index dd09c703..e61b6bbc 100644
--- a/doc/openvpn.8
+++ b/doc/openvpn.8
@@ -5811,8 +5811,7 @@ above.
 .\"*********************************************************
 .TP
 .B \-\-register\-dns
-Run net stop dnscache, net start dnscache, ipconfig /flushdns
-and ipconfig /registerdns on connection initiation.
+Run ipconfig /flushdns and ipconfig /registerdns on connection initiation.
 This is known to kick Windows into
 recognizing pushed DNS servers.
 .\"*********************************************************
diff --git a/src/openvpn/options.c b/src/openvpn/options.c
index 038fcd38..47acd97c 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/options.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/options.c
@@ -717,8 +717,8 @@ static const char usage_message[] =
   "--dhcp-pre-release : Ask Windows to release the previous TAP adapter lease on\n"
 "                       startup.\n"
   "--dhcp-release     : Ask Windows to release the TAP adapter lease on shutdown.\n"
-  "--register-dns  : Run net stop dnscache, net start dnscache, ipconfig /flushdns\n"
-  "                  and ipconfig /registerdns on connection initiation.\n"
+  "--register-dns  : Run ipconfig /flushdns and ipconfig /registerdns\n"
+  "                  on connection initiation.\n"
   "--tap-sleep n   : Sleep for n seconds after TAP adapter open before\n"
   "                  attempting to set adapter properties.\n"
   "--pause-exit         : When run from a console window, pause before exiting.\n"
diff --git a/src/openvpn/tun.c b/src/openvpn/tun.c
index 560b1a8e..572e168b 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/tun.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/tun.c
@@ -4597,23 +4597,9 @@ ipconfig_register_dns (const struct env_set *es)
   bool status;
   const char err[] = "ERROR: Windows ipconfig command failed";
 
-  msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, "Start net commands...");
+  msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, "Start ipconfig commands for register-dns...");
   netcmd_semaphore_lock ();
 
-  argv_printf (&argv, "%s%sc stop dnscache",
-	       get_win_sys_path(),
-	       WIN_NET_PATH_SUFFIX);
-  argv_msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, &argv);
-  status = openvpn_execve_check (&argv, es, 0, err);
-  argv_reset(&argv);
-
-  argv_printf (&argv, "%s%sc start dnscache",
-	       get_win_sys_path(),
-	       WIN_NET_PATH_SUFFIX);
-  argv_msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, &argv);
-  status = openvpn_execve_check (&argv, es, 0, err);
-  argv_reset(&argv);
-
   argv_printf (&argv, "%s%sc /flushdns",
 	       get_win_sys_path(),
 	       WIN_IPCONFIG_PATH_SUFFIX);
@@ -4629,7 +4615,7 @@ ipconfig_register_dns (const struct env_set *es)
   argv_reset(&argv);
 
   netcmd_semaphore_release ();
-  msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, "End net commands...");
+  msg (D_TUNTAP_INFO, "End ipconfig commands for register-dns...");
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
index 608bb0c3..ec54216b 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
@@ -899,8 +899,7 @@ RegisterDNS (LPVOID unused)
   WCHAR sys_path[MAX_PATH];
   DWORD timeout = RDNS_TIMEOUT * 1000; /* in milliseconds */
 
-  /* default paths of net and ipconfig commands */
-  WCHAR net[MAX_PATH]   = L"C:\\Windows\\system32\\net.exe";
+  /* default path of ipconfig command */
   WCHAR ipcfg[MAX_PATH] = L"C:\\Windows\\system32\\ipconfig.exe";
 
   struct
@@ -909,8 +908,6 @@ RegisterDNS (LPVOID unused)
       WCHAR *cmdline;
       DWORD timeout;
     } cmds [] = {
-                  { net,   L"net stop dnscache",     timeout },
-                  { net,   L"net start dnscache",    timeout },
                   { ipcfg, L"ipconfig /flushdns",    timeout },
                   { ipcfg, L"ipconfig /registerdns", timeout },
                 };
@@ -920,9 +917,6 @@ RegisterDNS (LPVOID unused)
 
   if(GetSystemDirectory(sys_path, MAX_PATH))
     {
-      _snwprintf (net, MAX_PATH, L"%s\\%s", sys_path, L"net.exe");
-      net[MAX_PATH-1] = L'\0';
-
       _snwprintf (ipcfg, MAX_PATH, L"%s\\%s", sys_path, L"ipconfig.exe");
       ipcfg[MAX_PATH-1] = L'\0';
     }