diff --git a/Make.inc b/Make.inc
index aaba197352117..b07c6c4af6061 100644
--- a/Make.inc
+++ b/Make.inc
@@ -81,11 +81,6 @@ HAVE_SSP := 0
 WITH_GC_VERIFY := 0
 WITH_GC_DEBUG_ENV := 0
 
-# When set, give julia binaries CPUID specific names. This is useful in cluster environments
-# with heterogeneous architectures. N.B.: will not be automatically rebuilt for all
-# architectures if julia is updated.
-CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES ?= 0
-
 # Prevent picking up $ARCH from the environment variables
 ARCH:=
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9d180dd4a8274..cf996d492d715 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -102,17 +102,11 @@ julia-ui-release julia-ui-debug : julia-ui-% : julia-src-%
 julia-inference : julia-base julia-ui-$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE) $(build_prefix)/.examples
 	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji JULIA_BUILD_MODE=$(JULIA_BUILD_MODE)
 
-ifneq ($(CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES), 0)
-CPUID_TAG = _$(call exec,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE) --cpuid)
-else
-CPUID_TAG =
-endif
-
 julia-sysimg-release : julia-inference julia-ui-release
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys$(CPUID_TAG).$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=release
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=release
 
 julia-sysimg-debug : julia-inference julia-ui-debug
-	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys-debug$(CPUID_TAG).$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=debug
+	@$(MAKE) $(QUIET_MAKE) -C $(BUILDROOT) $(build_private_libdir)/sys-debug.$(SHLIB_EXT) JULIA_BUILD_MODE=debug
 
 julia-debug julia-release : julia-% : julia-ui-% julia-sysimg-% julia-symlink julia-libccalltest
 
@@ -229,13 +223,8 @@ $$(build_private_libdir)/sys$1.o: $$(build_private_libdir)/inference.ji $$(JULIA
 	fi )
 .SECONDARY: $(build_private_libdir)/sys$1.o
 endef
-ifneq ($(CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES),0)
-$(eval $(call sysimg_builder,_%,-O3,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_release)))
-$(eval $(call sysimg_builder,-debug_%,-O0,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_debug)))
-else
 $(eval $(call sysimg_builder,,-O3,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_release)))
 $(eval $(call sysimg_builder,-debug,-O0,$(JULIA_EXECUTABLE_debug)))
-endif
 
 $(build_depsbindir)/stringreplace: $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/stringreplace.c | $(build_depsbindir)
 	@$(call PRINT_CC, $(HOSTCC) -o $(build_depsbindir)/stringreplace $(JULIAHOME)/contrib/stringreplace.c)
diff --git a/base/pkg/pkg.jl b/base/pkg/pkg.jl
index cb9df70635efb..69634126d3427 100644
--- a/base/pkg/pkg.jl
+++ b/base/pkg/pkg.jl
@@ -86,8 +86,6 @@ init(meta::AbstractString=DEFAULT_META, branch::AbstractString=META_BRANCH) = Di
 
 function __init__()
     vers = "v$(VERSION.major).$(VERSION.minor)"
-    vers = ccall(:jl_uses_cpuid_tag, Cint, ()) == 0 ? vers :
-        joinpath(vers,hex(ccall(:jl_cpuid_tag, UInt64, ()), 2*sizeof(UInt64)))
     unshift!(Base.LOAD_CACHE_PATH, abspath(Dir._pkgroot(), "lib", vers))
 end
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index d3ff989009006..daefd063655a3 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -109,10 +109,6 @@ SHIPFLAGS += $(FLAGS)
 SHIPFLAGS += "-DJL_SYSTEM_IMAGE_PATH=\"$(build_private_libdir_rel)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT)\""
 DEBUGFLAGS += "-DJL_SYSTEM_IMAGE_PATH=\"$(build_private_libdir_rel)/sys-debug.$(SHLIB_EXT)\""
 
-ifneq ($(CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES), 0)
-override CPPFLAGS += "-DCPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES=1"
-endif
-
 FLISP_EXECUTABLE_debug := $(BUILDDIR)/flisp/flisp-debug
 FLISP_EXECUTABLE_release := $(BUILDDIR)/flisp/flisp
 ifeq ($(OS),WINNT)
diff --git a/src/codegen.cpp b/src/codegen.cpp
index 7f13e04fcec9d..ee7bc9edff2a8 100644
--- a/src/codegen.cpp
+++ b/src/codegen.cpp
@@ -6848,8 +6848,28 @@ extern "C" void *jl_init_llvm(void)
 #if defined(FORCE_ELF)
     TheTriple.setObjectFormat(Triple::ELF);
 #endif
+    bool help = false;
+    if (jl_options.cpu_target && strcmp(jl_options.cpu_target, "help") == 0) {
+        help = true;
+        jl_options.cpu_target = "native";
+    }
     std::string TheCPU;
     SmallVector<std::string, 10> targetFeatures = getTargetFeatures(TheCPU);
+    {
+        std::string errorstr;
+        const Target *target = TargetRegistry::lookupTarget("", TheTriple, errorstr);
+        assert(target);
+        std::unique_ptr<MCSubtargetInfo> MSTI(
+            target->createMCSubtargetInfo(TheTriple.str(), "", ""));
+        if (!MSTI->isCPUStringValid(TheCPU))
+            jl_errorf("Invalid CPU name %s.", TheCPU.c_str());
+        if (help) {
+            // This is the only way I can find to print the help message once.
+            // It'll be nice if we can iterate through the features and print our own help
+            // message...
+            MSTI->setDefaultFeatures("help", "");
+        }
+    }
     jl_TargetMachine = eb.selectTarget(
             TheTriple,
             "",
diff --git a/src/jitlayers.cpp b/src/jitlayers.cpp
index 7218e53cb180c..a164c2bd531e7 100644
--- a/src/jitlayers.cpp
+++ b/src/jitlayers.cpp
@@ -1020,12 +1020,6 @@ void jl_add_to_shadow(Module *m)
     jl_merge_module(shadow_output, std::move(clone));
 }
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CPUID
-extern "C" {
-    extern void jl_cpuid(int32_t CPUInfo[4], int32_t InfoType);
-}
-#endif
-
 static void emit_offset_table(Module *mod, const std::vector<GlobalValue*> &vars, StringRef name)
 {
     assert(!vars.empty());
@@ -1070,14 +1064,6 @@ static void jl_gen_llvm_globaldata(Module *mod, const char *sysimg_data, size_t
                                  "jl_tls_offset_idx"));
 #endif
 
-    Constant *feature_string = ConstantDataArray::getString(jl_LLVMContext, jl_options.cpu_target);
-    addComdat(new GlobalVariable(*mod,
-                                 feature_string->getType(),
-                                 true,
-                                 GlobalVariable::ExternalLinkage,
-                                 feature_string,
-                                 "jl_sysimg_cpu_target"));
-
     // reflect the address of the jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle variable
     // back to the caller, so that we can check for consistency issues
     GlobalValue *jlRTLD_DEFAULT_var = mod->getNamedValue("jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle");
@@ -1088,21 +1074,6 @@ static void jl_gen_llvm_globaldata(Module *mod, const char *sysimg_data, size_t
                                  jlRTLD_DEFAULT_var,
                                  "jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle_pointer"));
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CPUID
-    // For native also store the cpuid
-    if (strcmp(jl_options.cpu_target,"native") == 0) {
-        uint32_t info[4];
-
-        jl_cpuid((int32_t*)info, 1);
-        addComdat(new GlobalVariable(*mod,
-                                     T_uint64,
-                                     true,
-                                     GlobalVariable::ExternalLinkage,
-                                     ConstantInt::get(T_uint64,((uint64_t)info[2])|(((uint64_t)info[3])<<32)),
-                                     "jl_sysimg_cpu_cpuid"));
-    }
-#endif
-
     if (sysimg_data) {
         Constant *data = ConstantDataArray::get(jl_LLVMContext,
             ArrayRef<uint8_t>((const unsigned char*)sysimg_data, sysimg_len));
diff --git a/src/jloptions.c b/src/jloptions.c
index 7bd9729eaaccc..8c95a7f13692e 100644
--- a/src/jloptions.c
+++ b/src/jloptions.c
@@ -20,16 +20,9 @@ char *shlib_ext = ".dylib";
 char *shlib_ext = ".so";
 #endif
 
-static char system_image_path[256] = "\0" JL_SYSTEM_IMAGE_PATH;
+static const char system_image_path[256] = "\0" JL_SYSTEM_IMAGE_PATH;
 JL_DLLEXPORT const char *jl_get_default_sysimg_path(void)
 {
-#ifdef CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES
-    char *path = &system_image_path[1];
-    size_t existing_length = strlen(path) - strlen(shlib_ext);
-    path += existing_length;
-    snprintf(path, sizeof(system_image_path) - existing_length,
-        "_%" PRIx64 "%s", jl_cpuid_tag(), shlib_ext);
-#endif
     return &system_image_path[1];
 }
 
diff --git a/src/julia.h b/src/julia.h
index 30e2c26548c70..95c091affb5ee 100644
--- a/src/julia.h
+++ b/src/julia.h
@@ -1280,8 +1280,6 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT long jl_getallocationgranularity(void);
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_is_debugbuild(void);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_sym_t *jl_get_UNAME(void);
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_sym_t *jl_get_ARCH(void);
-JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_cpuid_tag(void);
-JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_uses_cpuid_tag(void);
 
 // environment entries
 JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_environ(int i);
diff --git a/src/julia_internal.h b/src/julia_internal.h
index 7cd30911f54fd..e80a57dcf18ac 100644
--- a/src/julia_internal.h
+++ b/src/julia_internal.h
@@ -734,10 +734,6 @@ void *jl_dlopen_soname(const char *pfx, size_t n, unsigned flags);
 // libuv wrappers:
 JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_fs_rename(const char *src_path, const char *dst_path);
 
-#if defined(_CPU_X86_) || defined(_CPU_X86_64_)
-#define HAVE_CPUID
-#endif
-
 #ifdef SEGV_EXCEPTION
 extern JL_DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_segv_exception;
 #endif
diff --git a/src/staticdata.c b/src/staticdata.c
index a5d8146fca578..2a2af6b3008e4 100644
--- a/src/staticdata.c
+++ b/src/staticdata.c
@@ -129,10 +129,6 @@ static uint32_t read_uint32(ios_t *s)
 
 // --- Static Compile ---
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CPUID
-extern void jl_cpuid(int32_t CPUInfo[4], int32_t InfoType);
-#endif
-
 extern int globalUnique;
 static void *jl_sysimg_handle = NULL;
 static uint64_t sysimage_base = 0;
@@ -158,9 +154,6 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_running_on_valgrind(void)
 
 static void jl_load_sysimg_so(void)
 {
-#ifndef _OS_WINDOWS_
-    Dl_info dlinfo;
-#endif
     int imaging_mode = jl_generating_output() && !jl_options.incremental;
     // in --build mode only use sysimg data, not precompiled native code
     if (!imaging_mode && jl_options.use_sysimage_native_code==JL_OPTIONS_USE_SYSIMAGE_NATIVE_CODE_YES) {
@@ -181,31 +174,11 @@ static void jl_load_sysimg_so(void)
         *sysimg_gvars(sysimg_gvars_base, tls_offset_idx - 1) =
             (uintptr_t)(jl_tls_offset == -1 ? 0 : jl_tls_offset);
 #endif
-        const char *cpu_target = (const char*)jl_dlsym(jl_sysimg_handle, "jl_sysimg_cpu_target");
-        if (strcmp(cpu_target,jl_options.cpu_target) != 0)
-            jl_error("Julia and the system image were compiled for different architectures.\n"
-                     "Please delete or regenerate sys.{so,dll,dylib}.");
-#ifdef HAVE_CPUID
-        uint32_t info[4];
-        jl_cpuid((int32_t*)info, 1);
-        if (strcmp(cpu_target, "native") == 0) {
-            if (!RUNNING_ON_VALGRIND) {
-                uint64_t saved_cpuid = *(uint64_t*)jl_dlsym(jl_sysimg_handle, "jl_sysimg_cpu_cpuid");
-                if (saved_cpuid != (((uint64_t)info[2])|(((uint64_t)info[3])<<32)))
-                    jl_error("Target architecture mismatch. Please delete or regenerate sys.{so,dll,dylib}.");
-            }
-        }
-        else if (strcmp(cpu_target,"core2") == 0) {
-            int HasSSSE3 = (info[2] & 1<<9);
-            if (!HasSSSE3)
-                jl_error("The current host does not support SSSE3, but the system image was compiled for Core2.\n"
-                         "Please delete or regenerate sys.{so,dll,dylib}.");
-        }
-#endif
 
 #ifdef _OS_WINDOWS_
         sysimage_base = (intptr_t)jl_sysimg_handle;
 #else
+        Dl_info dlinfo;
         if (dladdr((void*)sysimg_gvars_base, &dlinfo) != 0) {
             sysimage_base = (intptr_t)dlinfo.dli_fbase;
         }
@@ -1360,13 +1333,16 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_preload_sysimg_so(const char *fname)
 // Allow passing in a module handle directly, rather than a path
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_set_sysimg_so(void *handle)
 {
-    // set cpu target if unspecified by user and available from sysimg
-    // otherwise default to native.
     void* *jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle_pointer = (void**)jl_dlsym_e(handle, "jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle_pointer");
     if (!jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle_pointer || (void*)&jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle != *jl_RTLD_DEFAULT_handle_pointer)
         jl_error("System image file failed consistency check: maybe opened the wrong version?");
+    // TODO make sure the sysimg and the JIT agrees on the ABI.
+    // This shouldn't be a problem for any required C types on any platforms we support
+    // but could be a problem from optional types. In particular, we need to make sure
+    // the two agrees on the usable register sizes so that functions that take
+    // a vector as input can use consistent calling convention.
     if (jl_options.cpu_target == NULL)
-        jl_options.cpu_target = (const char *)jl_dlsym(handle, "jl_sysimg_cpu_target");
+        jl_options.cpu_target = "native";
     jl_sysimg_handle = handle;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/sys.c b/src/sys.c
index 128664fc45d5f..40f0a549ad01e 100644
--- a/src/sys.c
+++ b/src/sys.c
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT JL_STREAM *jl_stderr_stream(void) { return JL_STDERR; }
 
 // CPUID
 
-#ifdef HAVE_CPUID
+#if defined(_CPU_X86_) || defined(_CPU_X86_64_)
 JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_cpuid(int32_t CPUInfo[4], int32_t InfoType)
 {
 #if defined _MSC_VER
@@ -478,31 +478,8 @@ JL_DLLEXPORT void jl_cpuid(int32_t CPUInfo[4], int32_t InfoType)
     );
 #endif
 }
-JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_cpuid_tag(void)
-{
-    uint32_t info[4];
-    jl_cpuid((int32_t *)info, 1);
-    return (((uint64_t)info[2]) | (((uint64_t)info[3]) << 32));
-}
-#elif defined(CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES)
-#error "CPUID not available on this CPU. Turn off CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES"
-#else
-// For architectures that don't have CPUID
-JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_cpuid_tag(void)
-{
-    return 0;
-}
 #endif
 
-JL_DLLEXPORT int jl_uses_cpuid_tag(void)
-{
-#ifdef CPUID_SPECIFIC_BINARIES
-    return 1;
-#else
-    return 0;
-#endif
-}
-
 // -- set/clear the FZ/DAZ flags on x86 & x86-64 --
 #ifdef __SSE__
 
diff --git a/test/cmdlineargs.jl b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
index 8220001ca127c..12fcfbb03ae76 100644
--- a/test/cmdlineargs.jl
+++ b/test/cmdlineargs.jl
@@ -95,14 +95,9 @@ let exename = `$(Base.julia_cmd()) --sysimage-native-code=yes --startup-file=no`
     @test !success(`$exename -L`)
     @test !success(`$exename --load`)
 
-    # --cpu-target
-    # NOTE: this test only holds true if image_file is a shared library.
-    if Libdl.dlopen_e(unsafe_string(Base.JLOptions().image_file)) != C_NULL
-        @test !success(`$exename -C invalidtarget --sysimage-native-code=yes`)
-        @test !success(`$exename --cpu-target=invalidtarget --sysimage-native-code=yes`)
-    else
-        warn("--cpu-target test not runnable")
-    end
+    # --cpu-target (requires LLVM enabled)
+    @test !success(`$exename -C invalidtarget`)
+    @test !success(`$exename --cpu-target=invalidtarget`)
 
     # --procs
     @test readchomp(`$exename -q -p 2 -e "println(nworkers())"`) == "2"
diff --git a/ui/repl.c b/ui/repl.c
index e08c5607b42b1..1add10b0c56f5 100644
--- a/ui/repl.c
+++ b/ui/repl.c
@@ -158,8 +158,6 @@ static NOINLINE int true_main(int argc, char *argv[])
     return 0;
 }
 
-extern JL_DLLEXPORT uint64_t jl_cpuid_tag();
-
 #ifndef _OS_WINDOWS_
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
@@ -224,11 +222,6 @@ int wmain(int argc, wchar_t *argv[], wchar_t *envp[])
         argv[i] = (wchar_t*)arg;
     }
 #endif
-    if (argc >= 2 && strcmp((char *)argv[1], "--cpuid") == 0) {
-        /* Used by the build system to name CPUID-specific binaries */
-        printf("%" PRIx64, jl_cpuid_tag());
-        return 0;
-    }
     libsupport_init();
     int lisp_prompt = (argc >= 2 && strcmp((char*)argv[1],"--lisp") == 0);
     if (lisp_prompt) {