diff --git a/src/commands/cmdhandler.py b/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
index 35e902ea85..0511ad7c92 100644
--- a/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
+++ b/src/commands/cmdhandler.py
@@ -399,14 +399,6 @@ def cmdhandler(called_by, raw_string, testing=False, callertype="session", sessi
             # (return value is normally None)
             ret = yield cmd.func()
 
-            if hasattr(cmd, "func_parts"):
-                # yield on command parts (for multi-part delayed commands)
-                for func_part in make_iter(cmd.func_parts):
-                    err = yield func_part()
-                    # returning anything but a deferred/None will kill the chain
-                    if err:
-                        break
-
             # post-command hook
             yield cmd.at_post_cmd()
 
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.py b/src/utils/utils.py
index 3ffef26c8f..11339bafd3 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.py
+++ b/src/utils/utils.py
@@ -485,24 +485,26 @@ def uses_database(name="sqlite3"):
     return engine == "django.db.backends.%s" % name
 
 
-def delay(delay=2, retval=None, callback=None):
+def delay(delay=2, callback=None, retval=None):
     """
     Delay the return of a value.
     Inputs:
       delay (int) - the delay in seconds
-      retval (any) - this will be returned by this function after a delay
-      callback (func(retval)) - if given, this will be called with retval
-                                after delay seconds
+      callback (func() or func(retval)) - if given, will be called without
+                     arguments or with retval after delay seconds
+      retval (any) - this will be returned by this function after a delay,
+                     or as input to callback
     Returns:
       deferred that will fire with callback after delay seconds. Note that
       if delay() is used in the commandhandler callback chain, the callback
       chain can be defined directly in the command body and don't need to be
       specified here.
     """
-    d = defer.Deferred()
-    callb = callback or d.callback
-    reactor.callLater(delay, callb, retval)
-    return d
+    callb = callback or defer.Deferred().callback
+    if retval is not None:
+        return reactor.callLater(delay, callb, retval)
+    else:
+        return reactor.callLater(delay, callb)
 
 
 _TYPECLASSMODELS = None