diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index d2d3ff6be..cd85548c1 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ POLL = poll
 
 ASYGLVERSION = @ASYGLVERSION@
 GCVERSION = @GCVERSION@
-GC = gc-$(GCVERSION)
+GC = gc
 LIBATOMIC = libatomic_ops-@ATOMICVERSION@
 GCOPTIONS = @GCOPTIONS@
 GCLIB = @GCLIB@
@@ -176,32 +176,14 @@ $(LSP_BUILD_ROOT)/liblspcpp.a:
 
 all:  	asy sty man faq asy-keywords.el
 
-$(GCLIB): $(GC).tar.gz
-	gunzip -c $(GC).tar.gz > $(GC).tar
-	tar -xf $(GC).tar
-	rm -f $(GC).tar
-	if test -r $(LIBATOMIC).tar.gz; then \
-	  gunzip -c $(LIBATOMIC).tar.gz > $(LIBATOMIC).tar; \
-	  tar -xf $(LIBATOMIC).tar; \
-	  rm -f $(LIBATOMIC).tar; \
-          mv $(LIBATOMIC) $(GC)/libatomic_ops; \
-	fi
-	if test "$(GC)" = "gc-7.0"; then \
-	  cd $(GC)/include/private && \
-            patch < ../../../patches/gc-7.0nomem.patch; \
-	fi
-	if test "$(GC)" = "gc-7.2b"; then \
-	  mv gc-7.2 gc-7.2b; \
-	fi
-	if test "$(GC)" = "gc-7.2c"; then \
-	  mv gc-7.2 gc-7.2c; \
-	fi
-	if test "$(GC)" = "gc-7.2d"; then \
-	  mv gc-7.2 gc-7.2d; \
-	fi
-	cd $(GC) && \
-	./configure CC="$(CC)" CXX="$(CXX)" $(GCOPTIONS); \
-	$(MAKE) check
+$(GCLIB): $(GC)/Makefile
+    $(MAKE) -C $(GC) check
+
+$(GC)/Makefile: $(GC)/libatomic_ops
+    cd $(GC) && ./configure CC="$(CC)" CXX="$(CXX)"
+
+$(GC)/libatomic_ops: libatomic_ops
+    ln -sf libatomic_ops $(GC)/libatomic_ops
 
 $(GCPPLIB): $(GCLIB)
 
@@ -395,14 +377,11 @@ clean:  FORCE
 	-cd GUI && $(PYTHON) buildtool.py clean
 
 gc-clean: FORCE clean
-	-if test -d $(GC); then \
-		$(MAKE) -C $(GC) clean; \
-	fi
+	-$(MAKE) -C $(GC) clean
 
 cleaner: FORCE clean
-	-if test -d $(GC); then \
-		rm -rf $(GC); \
-	fi
+    -$(MAKE) -C $(GC) clean
+    -rm -f $(GC)/Makefile
 	-rm -f Makefile config.h config.log config.status errors.temp
 	-rm -rf acextlibs
 	cd doc && $(MAKE) clean
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index cfb9f6c86..8496ce629 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -274,20 +274,9 @@ AC_ARG_WITH(vcpkg-host-triplet,
 ATOMICVERSION=7.6.12
 GCVERSION=8.2.4
 GCFILE=gc-$GCVERSION
-ac_cv_use_gc="system"
-
-AC_CHECK_FILE($GCFILE.tar.gz,
-ac_cv_use_gc=$GCVERSION)
-AC_ARG_ENABLE(gc,
-   [AS_HELP_STRING(--enable-gc[[[=system]]], enable system Boehm garbage collector)]
-   [     [[=VERSION]]   enable local VERSION of Boehm garbage collector]
-   [     [[=PREFIX]]    use Boehm garbage collector installed in PREFIX],
-   [  # if true
-      if test "x$enableval" != "xyes" ; then  # system, no or else
-         ac_cv_use_gc=$enableval
-      fi
-   ]
-)
+ac_cv_use_gc="yes"
+AC_ARG_ENABLE(gc, [AS_HELP_STRING(--enable-gc[[[=yes]]], enable Boehm garbage collector)])
+ac_cv_use_gc=$enable_gc
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(gc-debug,
 [AS_HELP_STRING(--enable-gc-debug,enable (slow) garbage collector debugging)],
@@ -316,53 +305,12 @@ GCLIB=
 GCPPLIB=
 GCNAME="Boehm Garbage Collector"
 if test "x$ac_cv_use_gc" != "xno" ; then
-   AC_DEFINE(USEGC,1,[GC Enabled])
-   if test "x$with_vcpkg" != "xno"; then  # managed by vcpkg
-      ADD_VCPKG_FEATURE(gc)
-      # The reason we are not using AC_CHECK_LIB is because
-      # we are not installing the dependencies until we collect all the features,
-      # hence the library files will not be available
-      ADD_VCPKG_LIB_FOR_PKGCONFIG(bdw-gc)
-      INCL=$INCL" -Ivcpkg_installed/$vcpkg_triplet/include/gc "
-      LIBS=$LIBS"-lgccpp "
-   else  # else, determine by prefix or system
-      case _$ac_cv_use_gc in
-      _|_system|_*[[\\/]]*)
-         if test "x$ac_cv_use_gc" = "xsystem" ; then
-            INCL=$INCL" -I$prefix/include/gc -I/usr/include/gc "
-            LIBS=$LIBS"-L$prefix/lib "
-         else
-            INCL=$INCL" -I$ac_cv_use_gc/include/gc "
-            LIBS=$LIBS"-L$ac_cv_use_gc/lib "
-         fi
-         CPPFLAGS_SAVE=$CPPFLAGS
-         CPPFLAGS=$CPPFLAGS" $INCL"
-         AC_CHECK_HEADER(gc.h,
-         AC_CHECK_LIB([gc],[GC_malloc],[
-            LIBS=$LIBS"-lgc "
-            AC_MSG_NOTICE([enabling system $GCNAME])],[
-         GCDIR=$GCFILE
-         INCL=$INCL" -I\$(GC)/include "
-         GCLIB="\$(GC)/.libs/libgc.a"
-         AC_MSG_NOTICE($GCNAME library not found)]),
-         GCDIR=$GCFILE
-         GCLIB="\$(GC)/.libs/libgc.a"
-         INCL=$INCL" -I\$(GC)/include "
-         AC_MSG_NOTICE($GCNAME header file not found))
-         CPPFLAGS=$CPPFLAGS_SAVE
-         ;;
-      *)
-         GCVERSION=$ac_cv_use_gc
-         GCFILE=gc-$GCVERSION
-         GCDIR=$GCFILE
-         AC_MSG_NOTICE([enabling local $GCNAME $GCDIR])
-         GCLIB="\$(GC)/.libs/libgc.a"
-         INCL=$INCL" -I\$(GC)/include "
-         ;;
-      esac
-   fi
+    AC_DEFINE(USEGC,1,[GC Enabled])
+    AC_MSG_NOTICE([enabling $GCNAME $GCDIR])
+    GCLIB="\$(GC)/.libs/libgc.a"
+    INCL=$INCL" -I\$(GC)/include "
 else
-   AC_MSG_NOTICE([disabling the $GCNAME])
+    AC_MSG_NOTICE([disabling the $GCNAME])
 fi
 
 # -------------------------- end gc ------------------
@@ -821,17 +769,3 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNCS(strnlen)
 AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile doc/Makefile doc/png/Makefile])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
 AC_OUTPUT
-
-if test "x$with_vcpkg" = "xno" -a "x$GCDIR" != "x" ; then
-   AC_CHECK_FILE($GCDIR.tar.gz,,[
-   echo
-   echo Please put the Boehm garbage collector tar.gz files in the asymptote directory.
-   echo FOR EXAMPLE, USE THE COMMANDS:
-   echo
-   echo wget https://github.com/ivmai/bdwgc/releases/download/v$GCVERSION/$GCFILE.tar.gz
-   echo wget https://github.com/ivmai/libatomic_ops/releases/download/v$ATOMICVERSION/libatomic_ops-$ATOMICVERSION.tar.gz
-
-   echo
-   exit 1
-   ])
-fi