diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 16f94cd96b..bccb979aaf 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -5618,58 +5618,6 @@ if  test "$plugins" = "yes" &&
       "for this purpose. You can't build with --static."
 fi
 
-########################################
-# See if 16-byte vector operations are supported.
-# Even without a vector unit the compiler may expand these.
-# There is a bug in old GCC for PPC that crashes here.
-# Unfortunately it's the system compiler for Centos 7.
-
-cat > $TMPC << EOF
-typedef unsigned char U1 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef unsigned short U2 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef unsigned int U4 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef unsigned long long U8 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef signed char S1 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef signed short S2 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef signed int S4 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef signed long long S8 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-static U1 a1, b1;
-static U2 a2, b2;
-static U4 a4, b4;
-static U8 a8, b8;
-static S1 c1;
-static S2 c2;
-static S4 c4;
-static S8 c8;
-static int i;
-void helper(void *d, void *a, int shift, int i);
-void helper(void *d, void *a, int shift, int i)
-{
-  *(U1 *)(d + i) = *(U1 *)(a + i) << shift;
-  *(U2 *)(d + i) = *(U2 *)(a + i) << shift;
-  *(U4 *)(d + i) = *(U4 *)(a + i) << shift;
-  *(U8 *)(d + i) = *(U8 *)(a + i) << shift;
-}
-int main(void)
-{
-  a1 += b1; a2 += b2; a4 += b4; a8 += b8;
-  a1 -= b1; a2 -= b2; a4 -= b4; a8 -= b8;
-  a1 *= b1; a2 *= b2; a4 *= b4; a8 *= b8;
-  a1 &= b1; a2 &= b2; a4 &= b4; a8 &= b8;
-  a1 |= b1; a2 |= b2; a4 |= b4; a8 |= b8;
-  a1 ^= b1; a2 ^= b2; a4 ^= b4; a8 ^= b8;
-  a1 <<= i; a2 <<= i; a4 <<= i; a8 <<= i;
-  a1 >>= i; a2 >>= i; a4 >>= i; a8 >>= i;
-  c1 >>= i; c2 >>= i; c4 >>= i; c8 >>= i;
-  return 0;
-}
-EOF
-
-vector16=no
-if compile_prog "" "" ; then
-  vector16=yes
-fi
-
 ########################################
 # See if __attribute__((alias)) is supported.
 # This false for Xcode 9, but has been remedied for Xcode 10.
@@ -7266,10 +7214,6 @@ if test "$atomic64" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_ATOMIC64=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 
-if test "$vector16" = "yes" ; then
-  echo "CONFIG_VECTOR16=y" >> $config_host_mak
-fi
-
 if test "$attralias" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_ATTRIBUTE_ALIAS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
diff --git a/accel/tcg/tcg-runtime-gvec.c b/accel/tcg/tcg-runtime-gvec.c
index 5b1902d591..00da0938a5 100644
--- a/accel/tcg/tcg-runtime-gvec.c
+++ b/accel/tcg/tcg-runtime-gvec.c
@@ -24,32 +24,6 @@
 #include "tcg/tcg-gvec-desc.h"
 
 
-/* Virtually all hosts support 16-byte vectors.  Those that don't can emulate
- * them via GCC's generic vector extension.  This turns out to be simpler and
- * more reliable than getting the compiler to autovectorize.
- *
- * In tcg-op-gvec.c, we asserted that both the size and alignment of the data
- * are multiples of 16.
- *
- * When the compiler does not support all of the operations we require, the
- * loops are written so that we can always fall back on the base types.
- */
-#ifdef CONFIG_VECTOR16
-typedef uint8_t vec8 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef uint16_t vec16 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef uint32_t vec32 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef uint64_t vec64 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-
-typedef int8_t svec8 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef int16_t svec16 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef int32_t svec32 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-typedef int64_t svec64 __attribute__((vector_size(16)));
-
-#define DUP16(X)  { X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X }
-#define DUP8(X)   { X, X, X, X, X, X, X, X }
-#define DUP4(X)   { X, X, X, X }
-#define DUP2(X)   { X, X }
-#else
 typedef uint8_t vec8;
 typedef uint16_t vec16;
 typedef uint32_t vec32;
@@ -64,7 +38,6 @@ typedef int64_t svec64;
 #define DUP8(X)   X
 #define DUP4(X)   X
 #define DUP2(X)   X
-#endif /* CONFIG_VECTOR16 */
 
 static inline void clear_high(void *d, intptr_t oprsz, uint32_t desc)
 {
@@ -917,13 +890,7 @@ void HELPER(gvec_sar64v)(void *d, void *a, void *b, uint32_t desc)
     clear_high(d, oprsz, desc);
 }
 
-/* If vectors are enabled, the compiler fills in -1 for true.
-   Otherwise, we must take care of this by hand.  */
-#ifdef CONFIG_VECTOR16
-# define DO_CMP0(X)  X
-#else
-# define DO_CMP0(X)  -(X)
-#endif
+#define DO_CMP0(X)  -(X)
 
 #define DO_CMP1(NAME, TYPE, OP)                                            \
 void HELPER(NAME)(void *d, void *a, void *b, uint32_t desc)                \
