diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
index 018b6fb26f..1747f531ea 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ script: |
   cd ../build
 
   function do_configure {
-    ./configure "$@" --enable-upnp-default --prefix=$STAGING --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --with-boost=$STAGING --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}" BOOST_CHRONO_EXTRALIBS="-lrt"
+    ./configure "$@" --enable-upnp-default --prefix=$STAGING --with-protoc-bindir=$STAGING/host/bin --with-boost=$STAGING --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$STAGING/lib/pkgconfig" CPPFLAGS="-I$STAGING/include ${OPTFLAGS}" LDFLAGS="-L$STAGING/lib ${OPTFLAGS}" CXXFLAGS="-frandom-seed=bitcoin ${OPTFLAGS}" BOOST_CHRONO_EXTRALIBS="-lrt" --enable-glibc-back-compat
   }
   #
   cd bitcoin
@@ -60,19 +60,6 @@ script: |
   make $MAKEOPTS install-strip
   make $MAKEOPTS clean
 
-  # Build fully static versions of bitcoind and bitcoin-cli for older Linux distros
-  STATIC_BINDIR="$HOME/bindir.static"
-  mkdir -p $STATIC_BINDIR
-  # For 32-bit, -pie cannot be used with -static, as invalid executables are generated
-  # For 64-bit, -pie with -static causes a link error
-  # Disable hardening in configure and manually pass 'static-safe' hardening flags
-  OPTFLAGS='-O2 -static -Wstack-protector -fstack-protector-all -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now'
-  do_configure --bindir=$STATIC_BINDIR --disable-tests --enable-upnp-default --without-gui --disable-hardening
-  make $MAKEOPTS
-  make $MAKEOPTS install-strip
-  cp $STATIC_BINDIR/bitcoind $BINDIR/bitcoind.static
-  cp $STATIC_BINDIR/bitcoin-cli $BINDIR/bitcoin-cli.static
-  
   # sort distribution tar file and normalize user/group/mtime information for deterministic output
   mkdir -p $OUTDIR/src
   rm -rf $TEMPDIR