diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 import sys, os, importlib.machinery, re, optparse
 from glob import glob
-import sysconfig
+from distutils import import sysconfig
 
 from distutils import log
 from distutils import text_file
@@ -230,18 +230,6 @@
             if ext.name in remove_modules:
                 self.extensions.remove(ext)
 
-        # When you run "make CC=altcc" or something similar, you really want
-        # those environment variables passed into the setup.py phase.  Here's
-        # a small set of useful ones.
-        compiler = os.environ.get('CC')
-        args = {}
-        # unfortunately, distutils doesn't let us provide separate C and C++
-        # compilers
-        if compiler is not None:
-            (ccshared,cflags) = sysconfig.get_config_vars('CCSHARED','CFLAGS')
-            args['compiler_so'] = compiler + ' ' + ccshared + ' ' + cflags
-        self.compiler.set_executables(**args)
-
         build_ext.build_extensions(self)
 
         longest = max([len(e.name) for e in self.extensions])