diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 8732185f07..31b778337e 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2488,7 +2488,9 @@ fi
 # fdt probe
 if test "$fdt" != "no" ; then
   fdt_libs="-lfdt"
+  # explicitly check for libfdt_env.h as it is missing in some stable installs
   cat > $TMPC << EOF
+#include <libfdt_env.h>
 int main(void) { return 0; }
 EOF
   if compile_prog "" "$fdt_libs" ; then
diff --git a/include/libfdt_env.h b/include/libfdt_env.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 3667d4cb3a..0000000000
--- a/include/libfdt_env.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2, as
- * published by the Free Software Foundation.
- *
- * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- * along with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
- *
- * Copyright IBM Corp. 2008
- * Authors: Hollis Blanchard <hollisb@us.ibm.com>
- *
- */
-
-#ifndef _LIBFDT_ENV_H
-#define _LIBFDT_ENV_H
-
-#include "qemu/bswap.h"
-
-#ifdef HOST_WORDS_BIGENDIAN
-#define fdt32_to_cpu(x)  (x)
-#define cpu_to_fdt32(x)  (x)
-#define fdt64_to_cpu(x)  (x)
-#define cpu_to_fdt64(x)  (x)
-#else
-#define fdt32_to_cpu(x)  bswap32(x)
-#define cpu_to_fdt32(x)  bswap32(x)
-#define fdt64_to_cpu(x)  bswap64(x)
-#define cpu_to_fdt64(x)  bswap64(x)
-#endif
-
-#endif /* _LIBFDT_ENV_H */