diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 2656091979..6136ee7922 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -513,7 +513,6 @@ LIBVIRT_ARG_DTRACE
 LIBVIRT_ARG_NUMAD
 LIBVIRT_ARG_INIT_SCRIPT
 LIBVIRT_ARG_CHRDEV_LOCK_FILES
-LIBVIRT_ARG_DEFAULT_EDITOR
 LIBVIRT_ARG_LOADER_NVRAM
 LIBVIRT_ARG_LOGIN_SHELL
 LIBVIRT_ARG_HOST_VALIDATE
@@ -525,7 +524,6 @@ LIBVIRT_CHECK_DTRACE
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_NUMAD
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_INIT_SCRIPT
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_CHRDEV_LOCK_FILES
-LIBVIRT_CHECK_DEFAULT_EDITOR
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_LOADER_NVRAM
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_LOGIN_SHELL
 LIBVIRT_CHECK_HOST_VALIDATE
@@ -1044,7 +1042,6 @@ LIBVIRT_RESULT_DTRACE
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_NUMAD
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_INIT_SCRIPT
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_CHRDEV_LOCK_FILES
-LIBVIRT_RESULT_DEFAULT_EDITOR
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_LOADER_NVRAM
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_LOGIN_SHELL
 LIBVIRT_RESULT_HOST_VALIDATE
diff --git a/m4/virt-default-editor.m4 b/m4/virt-default-editor.m4
deleted file mode 100644
index 4b4cad4e87..0000000000
--- a/m4/virt-default-editor.m4
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-dnl The default editor check
-dnl
-dnl Copyright (C) 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
-dnl
-dnl This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
-dnl modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
-dnl License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
-dnl version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
-dnl
-dnl This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
-dnl but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
-dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
-dnl Lesser General Public License for more details.
-dnl
-dnl You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
-dnl License along with this library.  If not, see
-dnl <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-dnl
-
-AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_ARG_DEFAULT_EDITOR], [
-  LIBVIRT_ARG_WITH([DEFAULT_EDITOR],
-                   [Editor to use for interactive commands], [vi])
-])
-
-AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_CHECK_DEFAULT_EDITOR], [
-  AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([DEFAULT_EDITOR], ["$with_default_editor"],
-                     [Default editor to use])
-])
-
-AC_DEFUN([LIBVIRT_RESULT_DEFAULT_EDITOR], [
-  LIBVIRT_RESULT([Default Editor], [$with_default_editor])
-])
diff --git a/tools/vsh.c b/tools/vsh.c
index b65e99cbd2..9701613924 100644
--- a/tools/vsh.c
+++ b/tools/vsh.c
@@ -2396,6 +2396,10 @@ vshEditWriteToTempFile(vshControl *ctl, const char *doc)
 #define ACCEPTED_CHARS \
   "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789-/_.:@"
 
+/* Hard-code default editor used as a fallback if not configured by
+ * VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables. */
+#define DEFAULT_EDITOR "vi"
+
 int
 vshEditFile(vshControl *ctl, const char *filename)
 {