diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 98a87f673..d0d8e7e15 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -53,67 +53,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([GNUPG_CHECK_GNUMAKE],
   ])
 
 
-dnl GNUPG_CHECK_ENDIAN
-dnl define either LITTLE_ENDIAN_HOST or BIG_ENDIAN_HOST
-dnl
-AC_DEFUN([GNUPG_CHECK_ENDIAN],
-  [
-    tmp_assumed_endian=big
-    tmp_assume_warn=""
-    if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then
-      case "$host_cpu" in
-         i@<:@345678@:>@* )
-            tmp_assumed_endian=little
-            ;;
-         *)
-            ;;
-      esac
-    fi
-    AC_MSG_CHECKING(endianness)
-    AC_CACHE_VAL(gnupg_cv_c_endian,
-      [ gnupg_cv_c_endian=unknown
-        # See if sys/param.h defines the BYTE_ORDER macro.
-        AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <sys/types.h>
-        #include <sys/param.h>]], [[
-        #if !BYTE_ORDER || !BIG_ENDIAN || !LITTLE_ENDIAN
-         bogus endian macros
-        #endif]])], [# It does; now see whether it defined to BIG_ENDIAN or not.
-        AC_COMPILE_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([[#include <sys/types.h>
-        #include <sys/param.h>]], [[
-        #if BYTE_ORDER != BIG_ENDIAN
-         not big endian
-        #endif]])], gnupg_cv_c_endian=big, gnupg_cv_c_endian=little)])
-        if test "$gnupg_cv_c_endian" = unknown; then
-            AC_RUN_IFELSE([AC_LANG_SOURCE([[main () {
-              /* Are we little or big endian?  From Harbison&Steele.  */
-              union
-              {
-                long l;
-                char c[sizeof (long)];
-              } u;
-              u.l = 1;
-              exit (u.c[sizeof (long) - 1] == 1);
-              }]])],
-              gnupg_cv_c_endian=little,
-              gnupg_cv_c_endian=big,
-              gnupg_cv_c_endian=$tmp_assumed_endian
-              tmp_assumed_warn=" (assumed)"
-            )
-        fi
-      ])
-    AC_MSG_RESULT([${gnupg_cv_c_endian}${tmp_assumed_warn}])
-    if test "$gnupg_cv_c_endian" = little; then
-      AC_DEFINE(LITTLE_ENDIAN_HOST,1,
-                [Defined if the host has little endian byte ordering])
-    else
-      AC_DEFINE(BIG_ENDIAN_HOST,1,
-                [Defined if the host has big endian byte ordering])
-    fi
-  ])
-
-
-
-
 # GNUPG_BUILD_PROGRAM(NAME,DEFAULT)
 # Add a --enable-NAME option to configure an set the
 # shell variable build_NAME either to "yes" or "no".  DEFAULT must
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 991313093..36ff452d7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -544,19 +544,6 @@ AH_BOTTOM([
 #endif
 
 
-/* We didn't define endianness above, so get it from OS macros.  This
-   is intended for making fat binary builds on OS X. */
-#if !defined(BIG_ENDIAN_HOST) && !defined(LITTLE_ENDIAN_HOST)
-#if defined(__BIG_ENDIAN__)
-#define BIG_ENDIAN_HOST 1
-#elif defined(__LITTLE_ENDIAN__)
-#define LITTLE_ENDIAN_HOST 1
-#else
-#error "No endianness found"
-#endif
-#endif
-
-
 /* Hack used for W32: ldap.m4 also tests for the ASCII version of
    ldap_start_tls_s because that is the actual symbol used in the
    library.  winldap.h redefines it to our commonly used value,
@@ -1332,6 +1319,10 @@ AC_MSG_NOTICE([checking for system characteristics])
 AC_C_CONST
 AC_C_INLINE
 AC_C_VOLATILE
+AC_C_BIGENDIAN([AC_DEFINE(BIG_ENDIAN_HOST,1,
+                [Defined if the host has big endian byte ordering])],
+               [AC_DEFINE(LITTLE_ENDIAN_HOST,1,
+                [Defined if the host has little endian byte ordering])])
 AC_TYPE_SIZE_T
 AC_TYPE_MODE_T
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS([sigdescr_np])
@@ -1347,15 +1338,6 @@ gl_TYPE_SOCKLEN_T
 
 AC_SEARCH_LIBS([inet_addr], [nsl])
 
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(endian-check,
-              AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-endian-check],
-              [disable the endian check and trust the OS provided macros]),
-	      endiancheck=$enableval,endiancheck=yes)
-
-if test x"$endiancheck" = xyes ; then
-  GNUPG_CHECK_ENDIAN
-fi
-
 # fixme: we should get rid of the byte type
 AC_CHECK_TYPES([byte, ushort, ulong, u16, u32])
 AC_CHECK_SIZEOF(unsigned short)