diff --git a/build/jam/BuildSetup b/build/jam/BuildSetup
index 0c3a534ee9..3ae1af350f 100644
--- a/build/jam/BuildSetup
+++ b/build/jam/BuildSetup
@@ -246,9 +246,6 @@ HOST_KERNEL_ARCH = host ;
 
 # set packaging architecture
 HOST_PACKAGING_ARCH		?= $(HOST_CPU) ;
-if $(HOST_PACKAGING_ARCH) = x86 && $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) = 1 {
-	HOST_PACKAGING_ARCH = x86_gcc2 ;
-}
 HOST_PACKAGING_ARCHS = $(HOST_PACKAGING_ARCH) ;
 
 # directories
@@ -278,9 +275,7 @@ HOST_C++FLAGS += -Wno-multichar ;
 HOST_PIC_CCFLAGS += -fPIC ;
 HOST_PIC_C++FLAGS += -fPIC ;
 
-if $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) != 1 {
-	HOST_GCC_BASE_FLAGS += -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks ;
-}
+HOST_GCC_BASE_FLAGS += -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks ;
 
 HOST_KERNEL_CCFLAGS += $(HOST_GCC_BASE_FLAGS) -finline -fno-builtin
 	-D_KERNEL_MODE ;
@@ -308,9 +303,7 @@ if $(HOST_ARCH) = m68k {
 if $(HOST_PLATFORM) != darwin {
 	# fix for new changes to DSO linking policies
 	HOST_LINKFLAGS += -Xlinker --no-as-needed ;
-	if $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) != 1 {
-		HOST_LINKFLAGS += -Wl,--copy-dt-needed-entries ;
-	}
+	HOST_LINKFLAGS += -Wl,--copy-dt-needed-entries ;
 }
 
 
@@ -390,13 +383,8 @@ if $(HOST_PLATFORM) != darwin {
 
 if $(HOST_PLATFORM_HAIKU_COMPATIBLE) {
 	# the C++ standard and support libraries
-	if $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) = 1 {
-		HOST_LIBSTDC++ = stdc++.r4 ;
-		HOST_LIBSUPC++ = ;
-	} else {
-		HOST_LIBSTDC++ = stdc++ ;
-		HOST_LIBSUPC++ = supc++ ;
-	}
+	HOST_LIBSTDC++ = stdc++ ;
+	HOST_LIBSUPC++ = supc++ ;
 
 	HOST_ADD_BUILD_COMPATIBILITY_LIB_DIR
 		= "LIBRARY_PATH=\"$LIBRARY_PATH:$(HOST_BUILD_COMPATIBILITY_LIB_DIR)\"" ;
@@ -423,11 +411,7 @@ if $(HOST_PLATFORM_HAIKU_COMPATIBLE) {
 	HOST_PTHREAD_LINKFLAGS = -pthread ;
 
 	# the C++ support library
-	if $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) = 1 {
-		HOST_LIBSUPC++ = ;
-	} else {
-		HOST_LIBSUPC++ = supc++ ;
-	}
+	HOST_LIBSUPC++ = supc++ ;
 
 	if $(HOST_PLATFORM) = darwin {
 		# part of the C++ runtime lives in libstdc++ on Darwin
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 29d21a1574..1a10c8e1b6 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -358,7 +358,6 @@ standard_gcc_settings()
 	set_variable HAIKU_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC_$targetArch \
 		`is_legacy_gcc $gccRawVersion`
 	set_variable HAIKU_CC_IS_CLANG_$targetArch $useClang
-	set_variable HAIKU_GCC_RAW_VERSION_$targetArch $gccRawVersion
 	set_variable HAIKU_GCC_MACHINE_$targetArch $gccMachine
 	set_variable HAIKU_GCC_LIB_DIR_$targetArch $gccdir
 	set_variable HAIKU_BOOT_CXX_HEADERS_DIR_$targetArch "$bootCxxHeaders"
@@ -603,6 +602,11 @@ gdbSources=
 if [ -z "$CC" ]; then
 	CC=gcc
 fi
+if [ $(is_legacy_gcc $($CC -dumpversion)) -ne 0 ]; then
+	echo The host tools cannot be built with a legacy version of GCC.
+	echo Please specify a more modern compiler in the "CC" environ.
+	exit 1
+fi
 
 # detect the build platform
 case "${platform}" in
@@ -637,8 +641,6 @@ fi
 # exported (BuildSetup) default parameter values
 #
 GIT_DIR=`git -C "$configureDir" rev-parse --git-dir | sed 's/^gitdir: //'`
-HOST_GCC_RAW_VERSION=`$CC -dumpversion`
-HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC=`is_legacy_gcc $HOST_GCC_RAW_VERSION`
 HOST_GCC_MACHINE=`$CC -dumpmachine`
 HAIKU_INCLUDE_SOURCES=0
 HAIKU_INCLUDE_3RDPARTY=0
@@ -1124,7 +1126,6 @@ HAIKU_HOST_BUILD_ONLY		?= "${HAIKU_HOST_BUILD_ONLY}" ;
 JAMSHELL					?= ${JAMSHELL} -e -c ;
 
 HOST_CC						?= ${CC} ;
-HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC		?= ${HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC} ;
 HOST_GCC_MACHINE			?= ${HOST_GCC_MACHINE} ;
 HOST_LD						?= ${HOST_GCC_LD} ;
 HOST_OBJCOPY				?= ${HOST_GCC_OBJCOPY} ;
diff --git a/src/tools/bfs_shell/Jamfile b/src/tools/bfs_shell/Jamfile
index 68844ef170..3de9064459 100644
--- a/src/tools/bfs_shell/Jamfile
+++ b/src/tools/bfs_shell/Jamfile
@@ -19,10 +19,7 @@ DEFINES += HAIKU_BUILD_COMPATIBILITY_H __STRICT_ANSI__ ;
 
 	defines = [ FDefines $(defines) ] ;
 
-	local c++flags = ;
-	if $(HOST_CC_IS_LEGACY_GCC) != 1 {
-		c++flags += -std=c++11 ;
-	}
+	local c++flags = -std=c++11 ;
 
 	SubDirCcFlags $(defines) -Wno-multichar ;
 	SubDirC++Flags $(defines) -Wno-multichar -fno-rtti ;