diff --git a/legacy/evas/configure.ac b/legacy/evas/configure.ac
index 5888c7f0ee..f470384c40 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/configure.ac
+++ b/legacy/evas/configure.ac
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 AC_CANONICAL_BUILD
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AC_ISC_POSIX
+AC_GNU_SOURCE
 
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([1.6 dist-bzip2])
 AM_CONFIG_HEADER([config.h])
@@ -79,11 +80,6 @@ esac
 AC_SUBST(MODULE_ARCH)
 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(MODULE_ARCH, "$MODULE_ARCH", "Module architecture")
 
-# weird debian etch bug where pthread_barrier doesn't work without adding
-# this.
-CFLAGS="${CFLAGS=} -D_GNU_SOURCE"
-AC_SUBST(CFLAGS)
-
 want_fontconfig="auto"
 want_fribidi="auto"
 want_evas_cserve="yes"
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/file/evas_module.c b/legacy/evas/src/lib/file/evas_module.c
index 862ca9f1e6..091530d5e9 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/file/evas_module.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/file/evas_module.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-# define _GNU_SOURCE
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+# include <config.h>
 #endif
 
 #include <string.h>
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_common.h b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_common.h
index 49e9f61373..1407eabba1 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_common.h
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_common.h
@@ -113,10 +113,6 @@ extern EAPI int _evas_log_dom_global;
 # define __ARM_ARCH__ 73
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-# define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #ifndef BUILD_PTHREAD
 # undef BUILD_PIPE_RENDER
 #endif
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_options.h b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_options.h
index 4de3833ee4..a54291d385 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_options.h
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_options.h
@@ -61,10 +61,6 @@
 # endif
 #endif
 
-#ifdef BUILD_FMEMOPEN
-# define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #define DIRECT_SCALE
 
 #endif
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_private.h b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_private.h
index 6953b311c4..0dc746c982 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_private.h
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/lib/include/evas_private.h
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 #ifndef EVAS_PRIVATE_H
 #define EVAS_PRIVATE_H
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/engines/software_x11/evas_xlib_outbuf.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/engines/software_x11/evas_xlib_outbuf.c
index cc906868c4..6e206cbc5b 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/engines/software_x11/evas_xlib_outbuf.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/engines/software_x11/evas_xlib_outbuf.c
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+# include <config.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
 
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/bmp/evas_image_load_bmp.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/bmp/evas_image_load_bmp.c
index 387f31723b..46a726a82f 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/bmp/evas_image_load_bmp.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/bmp/evas_image_load_bmp.c
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_EVIL
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/pmaps/evas_image_load_pmaps.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/pmaps/evas_image_load_pmaps.c
index a36eb8867c..2e054c3dc8 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/pmaps/evas_image_load_pmaps.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/pmaps/evas_image_load_pmaps.c
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #ifdef HAVE_EVIL
 # include <Evil.h>
 #endif
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/png/evas_image_load_png.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/png/evas_image_load_png.c
index a2fc17b12e..3c12eecdee 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/png/evas_image_load_png.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/png/evas_image_load_png.c
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <png.h>
 #include <setjmp.h>
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/tga/evas_image_load_tga.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/tga/evas_image_load_tga.c
index 703366c7fb..5a0a951dce 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/tga/evas_image_load_tga.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/loaders/tga/evas_image_load_tga.c
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
diff --git a/legacy/evas/src/modules/savers/png/evas_image_save_png.c b/legacy/evas/src/modules/savers/png/evas_image_save_png.c
index be22d45767..f6dcb4ba1d 100644
--- a/legacy/evas/src/modules/savers/png/evas_image_save_png.c
+++ b/legacy/evas/src/modules/savers/png/evas_image_save_png.c
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 # include <config.h>
 #endif
 
-#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#endif
-
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <png.h>
 #include <setjmp.h>