diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8f1b95fad..620bd3ad8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS( futimens clock_gettime )
 AC_CHECK_DECL( [mkostemp], [ AC_CHECK_FUNCS([mkostemp]) ] )
 
 if test x$local_gettext != xno; then
-  AC_CHECK_FUNCS( gettext dcgettext )
+  AC_CHECK_FUNCS( gettext )
 
 #
 # The Makefile also needs to know if we have gettext, so it knows if
diff --git a/src/env.cpp b/src/env.cpp
index 84baa76f8..c7924aeff 100644
--- a/src/env.cpp
+++ b/src/env.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#ifdef HAVE__NL_MSG_CAT_CNTR
 #include <string.h>
+#endif
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -191,15 +193,13 @@ static void handle_locale(const wchar_t *env_var_name) {
     const char *new_msg_locale = setlocale(LC_MESSAGES, NULL);
     debug(3, L"old LC_MESSAGES locale: '%s'", old_msg_locale);
     debug(3, L"new LC_MESSAGES locale: '%s'", new_msg_locale);
+#ifdef HAVE__NL_MSG_CAT_CNTR
     if (strcmp(old_msg_locale, new_msg_locale)) {
-        // Try to make change known to gettext. Both changing _nl_msg_cat_cntr and calling dcgettext
-        // might potentially tell some gettext implementation that the translation strings should be
-        // reloaded. We do both and hope for the best.
-        debug(2, L"changing message locale from '%s' to '%s'", old_msg_locale, new_msg_locale);
+        // Make change known to GNU gettext.
         extern int _nl_msg_cat_cntr;
         _nl_msg_cat_cntr++;
-        fish_dcgettext("fish", "Changing language to English", LC_MESSAGES);
     }
+#endif
 }
 
 /// Check if the specified variable is a locale variable.
diff --git a/src/fallback.cpp b/src/fallback.cpp
index 9b7468425..c3ef3462f 100644
--- a/src/fallback.cpp
+++ b/src/fallback.cpp
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ wchar_t *wcsndup(const wchar_t *in, size_t c) {
 #endif
 
 #ifndef HAVE_WCSLCPY
-
 /*$OpenBSD: strlcpy.c,v 1.8 2003/06/17 21:56:24 millert Exp $*/
 
 /*
@@ -189,7 +188,6 @@ wchar_t *wcsndup(const wchar_t *in, size_t c) {
  * ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
  * OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
  */
-
 size_t wcslcpy(wchar_t *dst, const wchar_t *src, size_t siz) {
     register wchar_t *d = dst;
     register const wchar_t *s = src;
@@ -212,11 +210,9 @@ size_t wcslcpy(wchar_t *dst, const wchar_t *src, size_t siz) {
     return s - src - 1;
     // Count does not include NUL.
 }
-
 #endif
 
 #ifndef HAVE_LRAND48_R
-
 int lrand48_r(struct drand48_data *buffer, long int *result) {
     *result = rand_r(&buffer->seed);
     return 0;
@@ -226,20 +222,16 @@ int srand48_r(long int seedval, struct drand48_data *buffer) {
     buffer->seed = (unsigned int)seedval;
     return 0;
 }
-
 #endif
 
 #ifndef HAVE_FUTIMES
-
 int futimes(int fd, const struct timeval *times) {
     errno = ENOSYS;
     return -1;
 }
-
 #endif
 
 #if HAVE_GETTEXT
-
 char *fish_gettext(const char *msgid) {
     return gettext(msgid);
     ;
@@ -250,35 +242,10 @@ char *fish_bindtextdomain(const char *domainname, const char *dirname) {
 }
 
 char *fish_textdomain(const char *domainname) { return textdomain(domainname); }
-
 #else
-
 char *fish_gettext(const char *msgid) { return (char *)msgid; }
-
 char *fish_bindtextdomain(const char *domainname, const char *dirname) { return NULL; }
-
 char *fish_textdomain(const char *domainname) { return NULL; }
-
-#endif
-
-#if HAVE_DCGETTEXT
-
-char *fish_dcgettext(const char *domainname, const char *msgid, int category) {
-    return dcgettext(domainname, msgid, category);
-}
-
-#else
-
-char *fish_dcgettext(const char *domainname, const char *msgid, int category) {
-    return (char *)msgid;
-}
-
-#endif
-
-#ifndef HAVE__NL_MSG_CAT_CNTR
-
-int _nl_msg_cat_cntr = 0;
-
 #endif
 
 #ifndef HAVE_KILLPG
@@ -299,18 +266,12 @@ double nan(char *tagp) { return 0.0 / 0.0; }
 #endif
 
 #if !HAVE_BROKEN_WCWIDTH
-
 int fish_wcwidth(wchar_t wc) { return wcwidth(wc); }
-
 int fish_wcswidth(const wchar_t *str, size_t n) { return wcswidth(str, n); }
-
 #else
-
 static int mk_wcwidth(wchar_t wc);
 static int mk_wcswidth(const wchar_t *pwcs, size_t n);
-
 int fish_wcwidth(wchar_t wc) { return mk_wcwidth(wc); }
-
 int fish_wcswidth(const wchar_t *str, size_t n) { return mk_wcswidth(str, n); }
 
 /*
@@ -373,7 +334,6 @@ int fish_wcswidth(const wchar_t *str, size_t n) { return mk_wcswidth(str, n); }
  *
  * Latest version: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ucs/wcwidth.c
  */
-
 struct interval {
     int first;
     int last;
@@ -502,5 +462,4 @@ static int mk_wcswidth(const wchar_t *pwcs, size_t n) {
     }
     return width;
 }
-
 #endif  // HAVE_BROKEN_WCWIDTH
diff --git a/src/fallback.h b/src/fallback.h
index 09e301429..7a609b8dd 100644
--- a/src/fallback.h
+++ b/src/fallback.h
@@ -120,15 +120,6 @@ char *fish_bindtextdomain(const char *domainname, const char *dirname);
 /// Cover for textdomain().
 char *fish_textdomain(const char *domainname);
 
-/// Cover for dcgettext.
-char *fish_dcgettext(const char *domainname, const char *msgid, int category);
-
-#ifndef HAVE__NL_MSG_CAT_CNTR
-/// Some gettext implementation use have this variable, and by increasing it, one can tell the
-/// system that the translations need to be reloaded.
-extern int _nl_msg_cat_cntr;
-#endif
-
 #ifndef HAVE_KILLPG
 /// Send specified signal to specified process group.
 int killpg(int pgr, int sig);