diff --git a/ninja/bootstrap.py b/ninja/bootstrap.py
index 026396b5c36f982fda5b4739d126c0ce23d8a9b6..c747867c94e8c53afc59dbf21667fbe1b816cbc9 100755
--- a/ninja/bootstrap.py
+++ b/ninja/bootstrap.py
@@ -93,14 +93,6 @@ if platform.is_windows():
 
 if platform.is_msvc():
     cl = 'cl'
-    vcdir = os.environ.get('VCINSTALLDIR')
-    if vcdir:
-        if options.x64:
-            cl = os.path.join(vcdir, 'bin', 'x86_amd64', 'cl.exe')
-            if not os.path.exists(cl):
-                cl = os.path.join(vcdir, 'bin', 'amd64', 'cl.exe')
-        else:
-            cl = os.path.join(vcdir, 'bin', 'cl.exe')
     args = [cl, '/nologo', '/EHsc', '/DNOMINMAX']
 else:
     args = shlex.split(os.environ.get('CXX', 'g++'))