diff --git a/apache2/Makefile b/apache2/Makefile
index a48efd7b..6b95ac17 100644
--- a/apache2/Makefile
+++ b/apache2/Makefile
@@ -39,13 +39,12 @@ APACHECTL = apachectl
 
 INCLUDES = -I /usr/include/libxml2 -I /usr/include/lua5.1
 # INCLUDES = -I /usr/include/libxml2 -I /path/to/httpd-x.y/srclib/pcre
-DEFS = -DWITH_LIBXML2 -DWITH_LUA
+DEFS = -DWITH_LUA
 # DEFS = -DWITH_ICONV
-#
-# DEFS = -DWITH_LIBXML2 -DPERFORMANCE_MEASUREMENT
-# DEFS = -DWITH_LIBXML2 -DNO_MODSEC_API
-# DEFS = -DWITH_LIBXML2 -DDEBUG_CONF
-# DEFS = -DWITH_LIBXML2 -DCACHE_DEBUG
+# DEFS = -DPERFORMANCE_MEASUREMENT
+# DEFS = -DNO_MODSEC_API
+# DEFS = -DDEBUG_CONF
+# DEFS = -DCACHE_DEBUG
 # LIBS = -Lmy/lib/dir -lmylib
 
 CFLAGS = -O2 -g -Wuninitialized -Wall -Wmissing-prototypes -Wshadow -Wunused-variable -Wunused-value -Wchar-subscripts -Wsign-compare
diff --git a/apache2/Makefile.win b/apache2/Makefile.win
index 96284cd7..baae09f7 100644
--- a/apache2/Makefile.win
+++ b/apache2/Makefile.win
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ BASE = "C:/Program Files/Apache Group/Apache2/"
 
 CC = cl
 
-# Add -DWITH_LIBXML2 below if you want to link against libxml2
 DEFS = /nologo /Od /LD /W3 -DWIN32 -DWINNT
 DLL = mod_security2.dll
 
diff --git a/apache2/modsecurity.c b/apache2/modsecurity.c
index e3b694a5..95f2c7c8 100644
--- a/apache2/modsecurity.c
+++ b/apache2/modsecurity.c
@@ -163,10 +163,8 @@ static apr_status_t modsecurity_tx_cleanup(void *data) {
     /* Multipart processor cleanup. */
     if (msr->mpd != NULL) multipart_cleanup(msr);
 
-    #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
     /* XML processor cleanup. */
     if (msr->xml != NULL) xml_cleanup(msr);
-    #endif
 
     // TODO: Why do we ignore return code here?
     modsecurity_request_body_clear(msr, &my_error_msg);
diff --git a/apache2/modsecurity.h b/apache2/modsecurity.h
index 586e2f27..7824df34 100644
--- a/apache2/modsecurity.h
+++ b/apache2/modsecurity.h
@@ -41,9 +41,7 @@ typedef struct msc_string msc_string;
 #include "msc_multipart.h"
 #include "msc_pcre.h"
 #include "msc_util.h"
-#ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
 #include "msc_xml.h"
-#endif
 #include "msc_geo.h"
 #include "re.h"
 
@@ -320,9 +318,7 @@ struct modsec_rec {
 
     multipart_data      *mpd;                        /* MULTIPART processor data structure */
 
-    #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
     xml_data            *xml;                        /* XML processor data structure       */
-    #endif
 
     /* audit logging */
     char                *new_auditlog_boundary;
diff --git a/apache2/msc_reqbody.c b/apache2/msc_reqbody.c
index 1f3126f6..b0d4e459 100644
--- a/apache2/msc_reqbody.c
+++ b/apache2/msc_reqbody.c
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_start(modsec_rec *msr, char **error_msg) {
                 msr_log(msr, 2, "Multipart parser init failed: %s", my_error_msg);
             }
         }
-        #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
         else
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "XML") == 0) {
             if (xml_init(msr, &my_error_msg) < 0) {
@@ -88,7 +87,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_start(modsec_rec *msr, char **error_msg) {
                 msr_log(msr, 2, "Multipart parser init failed: %s", my_error_msg);
             }
         }
-        #endif
         else
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "URLENCODED") == 0) {
             /* Do nothing, URLENCODED processor does not support streaming yet. */
@@ -274,7 +272,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_store(modsec_rec *msr,
                 msr_log(msr, 2, "Request body processor error: %s", my_error_msg);
             }
         }
-        #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
         else
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "XML") == 0) {
             /* Increase per-request data length counter. */
@@ -288,7 +285,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_store(modsec_rec *msr,
                 msr_log(msr, 2, "Request body processor error: %s", my_error_msg);
             }
         }
-        #endif
         else
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "URLENCODED") == 0) {
             /* Increase per-request data length counter. */
@@ -437,7 +433,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_end(modsec_rec *msr, char **error_msg) {
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "URLENCODED") == 0) {
             return modsecurity_request_body_end_urlencoded(msr, error_msg);
         }
-        #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
         else
         if (strcmp(msr->msc_reqbody_processor, "XML") == 0) {
             if (xml_complete(msr, &my_error_msg) < 0) {
@@ -447,7 +442,6 @@ apr_status_t modsecurity_request_body_end(modsec_rec *msr, char **error_msg) {
                 return -1;
             }
         }
-        #endif
     }
 
     /* Note the request body no files length. */
diff --git a/apache2/msc_xml.c b/apache2/msc_xml.c
index 7f642dec..4bbdc7b6 100644
--- a/apache2/msc_xml.c
+++ b/apache2/msc_xml.c
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@
  * write to Breach Security, Inc. at support@breach.com.
  *
  */
-#ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
-
 #include "msc_xml.h"
 
 
@@ -131,5 +129,3 @@ apr_status_t xml_cleanup(modsec_rec *msr) {
 
     return 1;
 }
-
-#endif
diff --git a/apache2/re_operators.c b/apache2/re_operators.c
index 1872fd80..e9e30c0f 100644
--- a/apache2/re_operators.c
+++ b/apache2/re_operators.c
@@ -818,8 +818,6 @@ static int msre_op_m_execute(modsec_rec *msr, msre_rule *rule, msre_var *var, ch
     return 1;
 }
 
-#ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
-
 /* validateDTD */
 
 static int msre_op_validateDTD_init(msre_rule *rule, char **error_msg) {
@@ -1100,8 +1098,6 @@ static int msre_op_verifyCC_execute(modsec_rec *msr, msre_rule *rule, msre_var *
 }
 
 
-#endif
-
 /**
  * Perform geograpical lookups on an IP/Host.
  */
@@ -1833,8 +1829,6 @@ void msre_engine_register_default_operators(msre_engine *engine) {
         msre_op_m_execute
     );
 
-    #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
-
     /* validateDTD */
     msre_engine_op_register(engine,
         "validateDTD",
@@ -1849,8 +1843,6 @@ void msre_engine_register_default_operators(msre_engine *engine) {
         msre_op_validateSchema_execute
     );
 
-    #endif
-
     /* verifyCC */
     msre_engine_op_register(engine,
         "verifyCC",
diff --git a/apache2/re_variables.c b/apache2/re_variables.c
index 0ccfb4fd..5d449f20 100644
--- a/apache2/re_variables.c
+++ b/apache2/re_variables.c
@@ -15,9 +15,7 @@
 #include "re.h"
 #include "msc_util.h"
 
-#ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
 #include "libxml/xpathInternals.h"
-#endif
 
 /**
  * Generates a variable from a string and a length.
@@ -513,8 +511,6 @@ static int var_reqbody_processor_error_msg_generate(modsec_rec *msr, msre_var *v
     return 1;
 }
 
-#ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
-
 /* XML */
 
 static char *var_xml_validate(msre_ruleset *ruleset, msre_var *var) {
@@ -630,7 +626,6 @@ static int var_xml_generate(modsec_rec *msr, msre_var *var, msre_rule *rule,
 
     return count;
 }
-#endif
 
 /* WEBSERVER_ERROR_LOG */
 
@@ -3097,7 +3092,6 @@ void msre_engine_register_default_variables(msre_engine *engine) {
         PHASE_REQUEST_HEADERS
     );
 
-    #ifdef WITH_LIBXML2
     /* XML */
     msre_engine_variable_register(engine,
         "XML",
@@ -3108,5 +3102,4 @@ void msre_engine_register_default_variables(msre_engine *engine) {
         VAR_CACHE,
         PHASE_REQUEST_BODY
     );
-    #endif
 }
diff --git a/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml b/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
index 07e00ff3..e4e3c5c9 100644
--- a/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
+++ b/doc/modsecurity2-apache-reference.xml
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
-        <para>(Optional) Add one line to your configuration to load libxml2:
+        <para>Add one line to your configuration to load libxml2:
         <filename moreinfo="none">LoadFile
         /usr/lib/libxml2.so</filename></para>
       </listitem>
@@ -5269,4 +5269,4 @@ SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "!<emphasis>@within %{tx.allowed_methods}</emphasis>" t:l
       </section>
     </section>
   </section>
-</article>
\ No newline at end of file
+</article>