diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 818dde32a9..8fa4d2664e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -340,9 +340,6 @@ include shared.mak
 #
 # Define HAVE_SYNC_FILE_RANGE if your platform has sync_file_range.
 #
-# Define NEEDS_LIBRT if your platform requires linking with librt (glibc version
-# before 2.17) for clock_gettime and CLOCK_MONOTONIC.
-#
 # Define HAVE_BSD_SYSCTL if your platform has a BSD-compatible sysctl function.
 #
 # Define HAVE_GETDELIM if your system has the getdelim() function.
@@ -2171,10 +2168,6 @@ ifdef HAVE_SYNC_FILE_RANGE
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DHAVE_SYNC_FILE_RANGE
 endif
 
-ifdef NEEDS_LIBRT
-	EXTLIBS += -lrt
-endif
-
 ifdef HAVE_BSD_SYSCTL
 	BASIC_CFLAGS += -DHAVE_BSD_SYSCTL
 endif
diff --git a/config.mak.uname b/config.mak.uname
index b12d4e168a..88007c4f13 100644
--- a/config.mak.uname
+++ b/config.mak.uname
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ ifeq ($(uname_S),Linux)
 	HAVE_DEV_TTY = YesPlease
 	HAVE_CLOCK_GETTIME = YesPlease
 	HAVE_CLOCK_MONOTONIC = YesPlease
-	# -lrt is needed for clock_gettime on glibc <= 2.16
-	NEEDS_LIBRT = YesPlease
 	HAVE_SYNC_FILE_RANGE = YesPlease
 	HAVE_GETDELIM = YesPlease
 	FREAD_READS_DIRECTORIES = UnfortunatelyYes