diff --git a/Makefile.config.in b/Makefile.config.in
index a9785dc7..08edcb86 100644
--- a/Makefile.config.in
+++ b/Makefile.config.in
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ CXXFLAGS = @CXXFLAGS@
 ENABLE_S3 = @ENABLE_S3@
 HAVE_SODIUM = @HAVE_SODIUM@
 HAVE_READLINE = @HAVE_READLINE@
-HAVE_BROTLI = @HAVE_BROTLI@
 HAVE_SECCOMP = @HAVE_SECCOMP@
 LIBCURL_LIBS = @LIBCURL_LIBS@
 OPENSSL_LIBS = @OPENSSL_LIBS@
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c41a83c9..6aeeacdb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -179,12 +179,9 @@ AC_CHECK_LIB([lzma], [lzma_stream_encoder_mt],
   [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LZMA_MT], [1], [xz multithreaded compression support])])
 
 
-# Look for libbrotli{enc,dec}, optional dependencies
-PKG_CHECK_MODULES([LIBBROTLI], [libbrotlienc libbrotlidec],
-  [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_BROTLI], [1], [Whether to use libbrotli.])
-   CXXFLAGS="$LIBBROTLI_CFLAGS $CXXFLAGS"]
-   have_brotli=1], [have_brotli=])
-AC_SUBST(HAVE_BROTLI, [$have_brotli])
+# Look for libbrotli{enc,dec}.
+PKG_CHECK_MODULES([LIBBROTLI], [libbrotlienc libbrotlidec], [CXXFLAGS="$LIBBROTLI_CFLAGS $CXXFLAGS"])
+
 
 # Look for libseccomp, required for Linux sandboxing.
 if test "$sys_name" = linux; then
diff --git a/src/libutil/compression.cc b/src/libutil/compression.cc
index e1782f8c..5de85ede 100644
--- a/src/libutil/compression.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/compression.cc
@@ -8,10 +8,8 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstring>
 
-#if HAVE_BROTLI
 #include <brotli/decode.h>
 #include <brotli/encode.h>
-#endif // HAVE_BROTLI
 
 #include <iostream>
 
@@ -132,12 +130,6 @@ static void decompressBzip2(Source & source, Sink & sink)
 
 static void decompressBrotli(Source & source, Sink & sink)
 {
-#if !HAVE_BROTLI
-    RunOptions options(BROTLI, {"-d"});
-    options.standardIn = &source;
-    options.standardOut = &sink;
-    runProgram2(options);
-#else
     auto *s = BrotliDecoderCreateInstance(nullptr, nullptr, nullptr);
     if (!s)
         throw CompressionError("unable to initialize brotli decoder");
@@ -193,7 +185,6 @@ static void decompressBrotli(Source & source, Sink & sink)
 
         if (ret == BROTLI_DECODER_RESULT_SUCCESS) return;
     }
-#endif // HAVE_BROTLI
 }
 
 ref<std::string> decompress(const std::string & method, const std::string & in)
@@ -403,42 +394,6 @@ struct BzipSink : CompressionSink
     }
 };
 
-struct LambdaCompressionSink : CompressionSink
-{
-    Sink & nextSink;
-    std::string data;
-    using CompressFnTy = std::function<std::string(const std::string&)>;
-    CompressFnTy compressFn;
-    LambdaCompressionSink(Sink& nextSink, CompressFnTy compressFn)
-        : nextSink(nextSink)
-        , compressFn(std::move(compressFn))
-    {
-    };
-
-    void finish() override
-    {
-        flush();
-        nextSink(compressFn(data));
-    }
-
-    void write(const unsigned char * data, size_t len) override
-    {
-        checkInterrupt();
-        this->data.append((const char *) data, len);
-    }
-};
-
-struct BrotliCmdSink : LambdaCompressionSink
-{
-    BrotliCmdSink(Sink& nextSink)
-        : LambdaCompressionSink(nextSink, [](const std::string& data) {
-            return runProgram(BROTLI, true, {}, data);
-        })
-    {
-    }
-};
-
-#if HAVE_BROTLI
 struct BrotliSink : CompressionSink
 {
     Sink & nextSink;
@@ -525,7 +480,6 @@ struct BrotliSink : CompressionSink
         }
     }
 };
-#endif // HAVE_BROTLI
 
 ref<CompressionSink> makeCompressionSink(const std::string & method, Sink & nextSink, const bool parallel)
 {
@@ -544,11 +498,7 @@ ref<CompressionSink> makeCompressionSink(const std::string & method, Sink & next
     else if (method == "bzip2")
         return make_ref<BzipSink>(nextSink);
     else if (method == "br")
-#if HAVE_BROTLI
         return make_ref<BrotliSink>(nextSink);
-#else
-        return make_ref<BrotliCmdSink>(nextSink);
-#endif
     else
         throw UnknownCompressionMethod(format("unknown compression method '%s'") % method);
 }
diff --git a/tests/brotli.sh b/tests/brotli.sh
index 645dd421..a3c6e55a 100644
--- a/tests/brotli.sh
+++ b/tests/brotli.sh
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 source common.sh
 
-
-# Only test if we found brotli libraries
-# (CLI tool is likely unavailable if libraries are missing)
-if [ -n "$HAVE_BROTLI" ]; then
-
 clearStore
 clearCache
 
@@ -24,5 +19,3 @@ nix copy --from $cacheURI $outPath --no-check-sigs
 HASH2=$(nix hash-path $outPath)
 
 [[ $HASH = $HASH2 ]]
-
-fi # HAVE_BROTLI
diff --git a/tests/common.sh.in b/tests/common.sh.in
index fddd25b3..2ee2f589 100644
--- a/tests/common.sh.in
+++ b/tests/common.sh.in
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ export xmllint="@xmllint@"
 export SHELL="@bash@"
 export PAGER=cat
 export HAVE_SODIUM="@HAVE_SODIUM@"
-export HAVE_BROTLI="@HAVE_BROTLI@"
 
 export version=@PACKAGE_VERSION@
 export system=@system@