diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index eea2f98f..b823fab3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -486,7 +486,6 @@ ${PACKAGE_NAME}:
     compiler               : ${CC}
     preprocessor flags     : ${CPPFLAGS}
     compiler flags         : ${WARNING_CFLAGS} ${CFLAGS}
-    defines                : ${DEFS}
     library flags          : ${LIBS} ${LIBSSL_LIBS} ${LIBARCHIVE_LIBS} ${LIBCURL_LIBS} ${GPGME_LIBS}
     linker flags           : ${LDFLAGS}
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am b/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
index 911e52bf..c935e2db 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/libalpm/Makefile.am
@@ -5,10 +5,9 @@ SUBDIRS = po
 lib_LTLIBRARIES = libalpm.la
 include_HEADERS = alpm_list.h alpm.h
 
-DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\" @DEFS@
-
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
-	-imacros $(top_builddir)/config.h
+	-imacros $(top_builddir)/config.h \
+	-DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\"
 
 AM_CFLAGS = -pedantic -D_GNU_SOURCE $(WARNING_CFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/src/pacman/Makefile.am b/src/pacman/Makefile.am
index c8ce9773..d296d485 100644
--- a/src/pacman/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/pacman/Makefile.am
@@ -9,23 +9,21 @@ logfile   = ${localstatedir}/log/pacman.log
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = pacman
 
-DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\" \
-       -DCONFFILE=\"$(conffile)\" \
-       -DDBPATH=\"$(dbpath)\" \
-       -DGPGDIR=\"$(gpgdir)\" \
-       -DCACHEDIR=\"$(cachedir)\" \
-       -DLOGFILE=\"$(logfile)\" \
-       @DEFS@
-
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-imacros $(top_builddir)/config.h \
-	-I$(top_srcdir)/lib/libalpm
+	-I$(top_srcdir)/lib/libalpm \
+	-DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\" \
+	-DCONFFILE=\"$(conffile)\" \
+	-DDBPATH=\"$(dbpath)\" \
+	-DGPGDIR=\"$(gpgdir)\" \
+	-DCACHEDIR=\"$(cachedir)\" \
+	-DLOGFILE=\"$(logfile)\"
 
 AM_CFLAGS = -pedantic -D_GNU_SOURCE $(WARNING_CFLAGS)
 
 if USE_GIT_VERSION
 GIT_VERSION := $(shell sh -c 'git describe --abbrev=4 --dirty | sed s/^v//')
-DEFS += -DGIT_VERSION=\"$(GIT_VERSION)\"
+AM_CPPFLAGS += -DGIT_VERSION=\"$(GIT_VERSION)\"
 endif
 
 pacman_SOURCES = \
diff --git a/src/util/Makefile.am b/src/util/Makefile.am
index 463abf7f..d539fa26 100644
--- a/src/util/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/util/Makefile.am
@@ -6,16 +6,14 @@ cachedir  = ${localstatedir}/cache/pacman/pkg/
 
 bin_PROGRAMS = vercmp testpkg testdb cleanupdelta pacsort pactree
 
-DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\" \
-       -DCONFFILE=\"$(conffile)\" \
-       -DDBPATH=\"$(dbpath)\" \
-       -DGPGDIR=\"$(gpgdir)\" \
-       -DCACHEDIR=\"$(cachedir)\" \
-       @DEFS@
-
 AM_CPPFLAGS = \
 	-imacros $(top_builddir)/config.h \
-	-I$(top_srcdir)/lib/libalpm
+	-I$(top_srcdir)/lib/libalpm \
+	-DLOCALEDIR=\"@localedir@\" \
+	-DCONFFILE=\"$(conffile)\" \
+	-DDBPATH=\"$(dbpath)\" \
+	-DGPGDIR=\"$(gpgdir)\" \
+	-DCACHEDIR=\"$(cachedir)\"
 
 AM_CFLAGS = -pedantic -D_GNU_SOURCE $(WARNING_CFLAGS)