diff --git a/ares/configure.ac b/ares/configure.ac
index 334bb1e47..abb65d940 100644
--- a/ares/configure.ac
+++ b/ares/configure.ac
@@ -15,51 +15,6 @@ esac
 AC_SEARCH_LIBS(gethostbyname, nsl)
 AC_SEARCH_LIBS(socket, socket)
 
-dnl Check for socklen_t: historically on BSD it is an int, and in
-dnl POSIX 1g it is a type of its own, but some platforms use different
-dnl types for the argument to getsockopt, getpeername, etc.  So we
-dnl have to test to find something that will work.
-AC_DEFUN([TYPE_SOCKLEN_T],
-[
-   AC_CHECK_TYPE([socklen_t], ,[
-      AC_MSG_CHECKING([for socklen_t equivalent])
-      AC_CACHE_VAL([curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv],
-      [
-         # Systems have either "struct sockaddr *" or
-         # "void *" as the second argument to getpeername
-         curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv=
-         for arg2 in "struct sockaddr" void; do
-            for t in int size_t unsigned long "unsigned long"; do
-               AC_TRY_COMPILE([
-                  #ifdef HAVE_SYS_TYPES_H
-                  #include <sys/types.h>
-                  #endif
-                  #ifdef HAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H
-                  #include <sys/socket.h>
-                  #endif
-
-                  int getpeername (int, $arg2 *, $t *);
-               ],[
-                  $t len;
-                  getpeername(0,0,&len);
-               ],[
-                  curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv="$t"
-                  break
-               ])
-            done
-         done
-
-         if test "x$curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv" = x; then
-            AC_MSG_ERROR([Cannot find a type to use in place of socklen_t])
-         fi
-      ])
-      AC_MSG_RESULT($curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv)
-      AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(socklen_t, $curl_cv_socklen_t_equiv,
-			[type to use in place of socklen_t if not defined])],
-      [#include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/socket.h>])
-])
-
 dnl ************************************************************
 dnl Option to switch on debug options. This makes an assumption that
 dnl this is built as an 'ares' subdir in the curl source tree. Subject for
@@ -75,9 +30,6 @@ AC_HELP_STRING([--disable-debug],[Disable debug options]),
        ;;
   *)   AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
 
-    dnl we need the socklen_t type when we built with the curl memdebug stuff
-    TYPE_SOCKLEN_T
-
     CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS -DCURLDEBUG -I../include"
     CFLAGS="$CFLAGS -g" 
     if test "$GCC" = "yes"; then