diff --git a/lib/completion.zsh b/lib/completion.zsh
index 94240fe8..89de099b 100644
--- a/lib/completion.zsh
+++ b/lib/completion.zsh
@@ -32,11 +32,8 @@ else
   zstyle ':completion:*:*:*:*:processes' command "ps -u $USER -o pid,user,comm -w -w"
 fi
 
-# rehash on every external command completion request
-if [ "x$REHASH_COMPLETION" = "xtrue" ]; then
-  zstyle ':completion:*' rehash true
-  unset REHASH_COMPLETION
-fi
+# auto-complete external commands
+zstyle ':completion:*' rehash true
 
 # disable named-directories autocompletion
 zstyle ':completion:*:cd:*' tag-order local-directories directory-stack path-directories
diff --git a/templates/zshrc.zsh-template b/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
index ca452f27..763288df 100644
--- a/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
+++ b/templates/zshrc.zsh-template
@@ -28,11 +28,6 @@ ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"
 # Uncomment the following line to display red dots whilst waiting for completion.
 # COMPLETION_WAITING_DOTS="true"
 
-# Uncomment the following line to force a rehash on every external completion
-# request, so newly installed commands are automatically completed without
-# reloading the shell. Be aware that this may impact completion performance.
-# REHASH_COMPLETION="true"
-
 # Uncomment the following line if you want to disable marking untracked files
 # under VCS as dirty. This makes repository status check for large repositories
 # much, much faster.