diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
index f264e4179e7..38060e9af33 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.6/default.nix
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ let
     C_INCLUDE_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/include") buildInputs);
     LIBRARY_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/lib") buildInputs);
 
-    configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-threads --enable-unicode --with-wctype-functions";
+    configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-threads --enable-unicode";
 
     preConfigure =
       ''
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
index 7dc4708e3cf..78aaf4d7fdf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/python/2.7/default.nix
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ let
     C_INCLUDE_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/include") buildInputs);
     LIBRARY_PATH = concatStringsSep ":" (map (p: "${p}/lib") buildInputs);
 
-    configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-threads --enable-unicode --with-wctype-functions";
+    configureFlags = "--enable-shared --with-threads --enable-unicode";
 
     preConfigure = "${ensurePurity}" + optionalString stdenv.isCygwin
       ''