diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7add7b4fb8..0dc4200561 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -500,7 +500,6 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_CURL=YesPlease
 	NO_SYMLINK_HEAD=YesPlease
 	NO_IPV6=YesPlease
-	NO_ETC_PASSWD=YesPlease
 	NO_SETENV=YesPlease
 	NO_UNSETENV=YesPlease
 	NO_STRCASESTR=YesPlease
@@ -513,7 +512,7 @@ ifneq (,$(findstring MINGW,$(uname_S)))
 	NO_MKDTEMP = YesPlease
 	NO_SVN_TESTS=YesPlease
 	NO_PERL_MAKEMAKER=YesPlease
-	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DNO_ETC_PASSWD -DNO_ST_BLOCKS -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\" -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -I compat
+	COMPAT_CFLAGS += -DNO_ST_BLOCKS -DSTRIP_EXTENSION=\".exe\" -D__USE_MINGW_ACCESS -DNOGDI -I compat
 	COMPAT_OBJS += compat/mingw.o compat/fnmatch.o compat/regex.o
 	EXTLIBS += -lws2_32
 	X = .exe
diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 7cf6269c42..66c4fb37a5 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ int mkstemp (char *__template);
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 #include <netinet/tcp.h>
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
-#endif
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
 #include <netdb.h>
 #include <pwd.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
@@ -431,7 +429,6 @@ int symlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 int fchmod(int fildes, mode_t mode);
 int lstat(const char *file_name, struct stat *buf);
 
-/* missing: link, mkstemp, fchmod, getuid (?), gettimeofday */
 int socketpair(int d, int type, int protocol, int sv[2]);
 #define AF_UNIX 0
 #define SOCK_STREAM 0
diff --git a/ident.c b/ident.c
index 1f99984d76..9b2a852cb0 100644
--- a/ident.c
+++ b/ident.c
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 
 static char git_default_date[50];
 
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
-
 static void copy_gecos(const struct passwd *w, char *name, size_t sz)
 {
 	char *src, *dst;
@@ -72,11 +70,8 @@ static void copy_email(const struct passwd *pw)
 	}
 }
 
-#endif
-
 static void setup_ident(void)
 {
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
 	struct passwd *pw = NULL;
 
 	/* Get the name ("gecos") */
@@ -101,7 +96,6 @@ static void setup_ident(void)
 			copy_email(pw);
 		}
 	}
-#endif
 
 	/* And set the default date */
 	if (!git_default_date[0])
@@ -212,9 +206,7 @@ const char *fmt_ident(const char *name, const char *email,
 		email = git_default_email;
 
 	if (!*name) {
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
 		struct passwd *pw;
-#endif
 
 		if (0 <= error_on_no_name &&
 		    name == git_default_name && env_hint) {
@@ -223,16 +215,11 @@ const char *fmt_ident(const char *name, const char *email,
 		}
 		if (0 < error_on_no_name)
 			die("empty ident %s <%s> not allowed", name, email);
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
 		pw = getpwuid(getuid());
 		if (!pw)
 			die("You don't exist. Go away!");
 		strlcpy(git_default_name, pw->pw_name,
 			sizeof(git_default_name));
-#else
-		strlcpy(git_default_name, "unknown",
-			sizeof(git_default_name));
-#endif
 		name = git_default_name;
 	}
 
diff --git a/path.c b/path.c
index 2c5ebfb922..e264bb34a9 100644
--- a/path.c
+++ b/path.c
@@ -141,8 +141,6 @@ int validate_headref(const char *path)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-#ifndef NO_ETC_PASSWD
-
 static char *user_path(char *buf, char *path, int sz)
 {
 	struct passwd *pw;
@@ -182,15 +180,6 @@ static char *user_path(char *buf, char *path, int sz)
 	return buf;
 }
 
-#else
-
-static char *user_path(char *buf, char *path, int sz)
-{
-	return getenv("HOME");
-}
-
-#endif
-
 /*
  * First, one directory to try is determined by the following algorithm.
  *