diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 3402627..27210f1 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@ all_test_ltlibs = $(test_ltlibraries) $(uninstalled_test_ltlibraries) $(installe
 
 @ENABLE_INSTALLED_TESTS_TRUE@installed_test_meta_DATA = $(installed_testcases:=.test)
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4macros ${ACLOCAL_FLAGS}
-SUBDIRS = . m4macros glib gmodule gthread gobject gio po docs tests
+SUBDIRS = . m4macros glib gmodule gthread gobject gio po
 DIST_SUBDIRS = $(SUBDIRS) build
 bin_SCRIPTS = glib-gettextize
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b9c3342..e421aa0 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -465,13 +465,6 @@ ALL_LINGUAS="`grep -v '^#' "$srcdir/po/LINGUAS" | tr '\n' ' '`"
 AC_SUBST([CONFIG_STATUS_DEPENDENCIES],['$(top_srcdir)/po/LINGUAS'])
 GLIB_GNU_GETTEXT
 
-if test "$gt_cv_have_gettext" != "yes" ; then
-  AC_MSG_ERROR([
-*** You must have either have gettext support in your C library, or use the 
-*** GNU gettext library. (http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/gettext.html
-])
-fi
-
 LIBS="$INTLLIBS $LIBS"
 
 GETTEXT_PACKAGE=glib20
diff --git a/glib/ggettext.c b/glib/ggettext.c
index bf74ccb..b9e57ef 100644
--- a/glib/ggettext.c
+++ b/glib/ggettext.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
 #include <string.h>
 #include <locale.h>
-#include <libintl.h>
+
 
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
 
@@ -55,36 +55,7 @@
 gchar *
 _glib_get_locale_dir (void)
 {
-  gchar *install_dir = NULL, *locale_dir;
-  gchar *retval = NULL;
-
-  if (glib_dll != NULL)
-    install_dir = g_win32_get_package_installation_directory_of_module (glib_dll);
-
-  if (install_dir)
-    {
-      /*
-       * Append "/share/locale" or "/lib/locale" depending on whether
-       * autoconfigury detected GNU gettext or not.
-       */
-      const char *p = GLIB_LOCALE_DIR + strlen (GLIB_LOCALE_DIR);
-      while (*--p != '/')
-	;
-      while (*--p != '/')
-	;
-
-      locale_dir = g_build_filename (install_dir, p, NULL);
-
-      retval = g_win32_locale_filename_from_utf8 (locale_dir);
-
-      g_free (install_dir);
-      g_free (locale_dir);
-    }
-
-  if (retval)
-    return retval;
-  else
-    return g_strdup ("");
+  return g_strdup ("");
 }
 
 #undef GLIB_LOCALE_DIR
@@ -92,27 +63,6 @@ _glib_get_locale_dir (void)
 #endif /* G_OS_WIN32 */
 
 
-static void
-ensure_gettext_initialized (void)
-{
-  static gsize initialised;
-
-  if (g_once_init_enter (&initialised))
-    {
-#ifdef G_OS_WIN32
-      gchar *tmp = _glib_get_locale_dir ();
-      bindtextdomain (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, tmp);
-      g_free (tmp);
-#else
-      bindtextdomain (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, GLIB_LOCALE_DIR);
-#endif
-#    ifdef HAVE_BIND_TEXTDOMAIN_CODESET
-      bind_textdomain_codeset (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, "UTF-8");
-#    endif
-      g_once_init_leave (&initialised, TRUE);
-    }
-}
-
 /**
  * glib_gettext:
  * @str: The string to be translated
@@ -126,8 +76,6 @@ ensure_gettext_initialized (void)
 const gchar *
 glib_gettext (const gchar *str)
 {
-  ensure_gettext_initialized ();
-
   return g_dgettext (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, str);
 }
 
@@ -150,8 +98,6 @@ const gchar *
 glib_pgettext (const gchar *msgctxtid,
                gsize        msgidoffset)
 {
-  ensure_gettext_initialized ();
-
   return g_dpgettext (GETTEXT_PACKAGE, msgctxtid, msgidoffset);
 }
 
diff --git a/glib/gi18n.h b/glib/gi18n.h
index f765c3d..a06507f 100644
--- a/glib/gi18n.h
+++ b/glib/gi18n.h
@@ -20,13 +20,16 @@
 
 #include <glib.h>
 
-#include <libintl.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-#define  _(String) gettext (String)
+#define  _(String) (String)
 #define Q_(String) g_dpgettext (NULL, String, 0)
 #define N_(String) (String)
 #define C_(Context,String) g_dpgettext (NULL, Context "\004" String, strlen (Context) + 1)
 #define NC_(Context, String) (String)
 
+#define textdomain(...)
+#define bindtextdomain(...)
+#define bind_textdomain_codeset(...)
+
 #endif  /* __G_I18N_H__ */