diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 445daa08edf4..8f878406bd8a 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -222,15 +222,7 @@ fetch: get-submodules
 ifneq (,$(wildcard $(SRCDIR)/.git))
 get-submodules:
 ifneq ($(foreach i,$(GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES),$(i)/.git),$(wildcard $(foreach i,$(GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES),$(i)/.git)))
-ifeq (,$(GIT_LINK_SRC))
 	cd $(SRCDIR) && ./g -f clone
-else # space-saving clone from another local workdir
-	@echo "FIXME: GIT_LINK_SRC method is not yet implemented with submodules" 1>&2
-	true $(foreach i,$(GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES),\
-		&& rm -r $(i) && cp -R $(GIT_LINK_SRC)/$(i) $(i))
-#		bin/git-new-workdir $GIT_LINK_SRC/$i $i
-	git submodule update $(GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES)
-endif
 endif
 	@cd $(SRCDIR) && ./g -z # make sure the git hooks are in place enen if no submodules are needed
 
diff --git a/config_host.mk.in b/config_host.mk.in
index 803be089f439..b24ea7be601e 100644
--- a/config_host.mk.in
+++ b/config_host.mk.in
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@ export GCONF_CFLAGS=$(gb_SPACE)@GCONF_CFLAGS@
 export GCONF_LIBS=$(gb_SPACE)@GCONF_LIBS@
 export GIO_CFLAGS=$(gb_SPACE)@GIO_CFLAGS@
 export GIO_LIBS=$(gb_SPACE)@GIO_LIBS@
-export GIT_LINK_SRC=@GIT_LINK_SRC@
 export GIT_REFERENCE_SRC=@GIT_REFERENCE_SRC@
 export GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES=@GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES@
 export GNOMEVFS_CFLAGS=$(gb_SPACE)@GNOMEVFS_CFLAGS@
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 10615072cc88..e5a7e5dbba4d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1194,14 +1194,6 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(solver-and-workdir-root,
         [Specify path that contains SOLARVER and WORKDIR directories manually.])
 )
 
-AC_ARG_WITH(linked-git,
-    AS_HELP_STRING([--with-linked-git=<OTHER_CLONE_DIR>],
-        [Specify another checkout's clonedir to re-use. This makes use of
-                 git-new-workdir, and saves a lot of diskspace when having multiple
-                 trees side-by-side.]),
-    GIT_LINK_SRC=$withval ,
-)
-
 AC_ARG_WITH(referenced-git,
     AS_HELP_STRING([--with-referenced-git=<OTHER_CHECKOUT_DIR>],
         [Specify another checkout directory to reference. This makes use of
@@ -11945,17 +11937,6 @@ fi
 AC_SUBST(L10N_MODULE)
 AC_SUBST(WITH_POOR_HELP_LOCALIZATIONS)
 
-dnl git-new-workdir
-dnl ===================================================================
-if test -n "${GIT_LINK_SRC}"; then
-    for repo in ${GIT_NEEDED_SUBMODULES}; do
-        if ! test -d "${GIT_LINK_SRC}"/${repo}; then
-            AC_MSG_ERROR([linked git: required repository does not exist: ${GIT_LINK_SRC}/${repo}])
-        fi
-    done
-fi
-AC_SUBST(GIT_LINK_SRC)
-
 dnl git submodule update --reference
 dnl ===================================================================
 if test -n "${GIT_REFERENCE_SRC}"; then