diff --git a/m4/virt-libxml.m4 b/m4/virt-libxml.m4
index 3e1c04f167..6d3ae9a14e 100644
--- a/m4/virt-libxml.m4
+++ b/m4/virt-libxml.m4
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_ARG_LIBXML], [
 
 AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_LIBXML], [
   LIBXML_REQUIRED="2.6.0"
-  LIBXML_CONFIG="xml2-config"
   LIBXML_CFLAGS=""
   LIBXML_LIBS=""
   LIBXML_FOUND="no"
@@ -35,24 +34,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_LIBXML], [
     PKG_CHECK_MODULES(LIBXML, libxml-2.0 >= $LIBXML_REQUIRED, [LIBXML_FOUND=yes], [LIBXML_FOUND=no])
   fi
   if test "$LIBXML_FOUND" = "no" ; then
-    if test "x$with_libxml" != "xcheck" ; then
-      LIBXML_CONFIG=$with_libxml/bin/$LIBXML_CONFIG
-    fi
-    AC_MSG_CHECKING(libxml2 $LIBXML_CONFIG >= $LIBXML_REQUIRED )
-    if ! $LIBXML_CONFIG --version > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
-      AC_MSG_ERROR([Could not find libxml2 anywhere (see config.log for details).])
-    fi
-    vers=`$LIBXML_CONFIG --version | awk -F. '{ printf "%d", ($1 * 1000 + $2) * 1000 + $3;}'`
-    minvers=`echo $LIBXML_REQUIRED | awk -F. '{ printf "%d", ($1 * 1000 + $2) * 1000 + $3;}'`
-    if test "$vers" -ge "$minvers" ; then
-      LIBXML_LIBS="`$LIBXML_CONFIG --libs`"
-      LIBXML_CFLAGS="`$LIBXML_CONFIG --cflags`"
-      LIBXML_FOUND="yes"
-      AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
-    else
-      AC_MSG_ERROR(
-        [You need at least libxml2 $LIBXML_REQUIRED for this version of libvirt])
-    fi
+    AC_MSG_ERROR([libxml2 >= $LIBXML_REQUIRED is required for libvirt])
   fi
 
   AC_SUBST([LIBXML_CFLAGS])