diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 6851a311..2a6df275 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ Other changes:
 - Binary packages no longer installed by default. The 'psycopg2-binary'
   package must be used explicitly.
 - Dropped `!PSYCOPG_DISPLAY_SIZE` build parameter.
+- Dropped support for mxDateTime as the default date and time adapter.
+  mxDatetime support continues to be available as an alternative to Python's
+  builtin datetime.
 - No longer use 2to3 during installation for Python 2 & 3 compatibility. All
   source files are now compatible with Python 2 & 3 as is.
 - The `!psycopg2.test` package is no longer installed by ``python setup.py
diff --git a/psycopg/adapter_datetime.c b/psycopg/adapter_datetime.c
index e76dc26b..5620fc78 100644
--- a/psycopg/adapter_datetime.c
+++ b/psycopg/adapter_datetime.c
@@ -265,8 +265,6 @@ PyTypeObject pydatetimeType = {
 
 /** module-level functions **/
 
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME
-
 PyObject *
 psyco_Date(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -458,8 +456,6 @@ exit:
     return res;
 }
 
-#endif
-
 PyObject *
 psyco_DateFromPy(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
diff --git a/psycopg/adapter_datetime.h b/psycopg/adapter_datetime.h
index 47b33ea5..eb0fc920 100644
--- a/psycopg/adapter_datetime.h
+++ b/psycopg/adapter_datetime.h
@@ -47,9 +47,6 @@ typedef struct {
 
 RAISES_NEG HIDDEN int psyco_adapter_datetime_init(void);
 
-/* functions exported to psycopgmodule.c */
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME
-
 HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_Date(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
 #define psyco_Date_doc \
     "Date(year, month, day) -> new date\n\n" \
@@ -86,8 +83,6 @@ HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_TimestampFromTicks(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
     "Ticks are the number of seconds since the epoch; see the documentation " \
     "of the standard Python time module for details)."
 
-#endif /* PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME */
-
 HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_DateFromPy(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
 #define psyco_DateFromPy_doc \
     "DateFromPy(datetime.date) -> new wrapper"
diff --git a/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.c b/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.c
index 9f17da11..cca8790e 100644
--- a/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.c
+++ b/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.c
@@ -254,131 +254,6 @@ PyTypeObject mxdatetimeType = {
 
 /** module-level functions **/
 
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_Date(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *res, *mx;
-    int year, month, day;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "iii", &year, &month, &day))
-        return NULL;
-
-    mx = mxDateTime.DateTime_FromDateAndTime(year, month, day, 0, 0, 0.0);
-    if (mx == NULL) return NULL;
-
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                PSYCO_MXDATETIME_DATE);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_Time(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *res, *mx;
-    int hours, minutes=0;
-    double seconds=0.0;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "iid", &hours, &minutes, &seconds))
-        return NULL;
-
-    mx = mxDateTime.DateTimeDelta_FromTime(hours, minutes, seconds);
-    if (mx == NULL) return NULL;
-
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                PSYCO_MXDATETIME_TIME);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_Timestamp(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *res, *mx;
-    int year, month, day;
-    int hour=0, minute=0; /* default to midnight */
-    double second=0.0;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "lii|iid", &year, &month, &day,
-                          &hour, &minute, &second))
-        return NULL;
-
-    mx = mxDateTime.DateTime_FromDateAndTime(year, month, day,
-                                               hour, minute, second);
-    if (mx == NULL) return NULL;
-
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                PSYCO_MXDATETIME_TIMESTAMP);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_DateFromTicks(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *res, *mx;
-    double ticks;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args,"d", &ticks))
-        return NULL;
-
-    if (!(mx = mxDateTime.DateTime_FromTicks(ticks)))
-        return NULL;
-
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                PSYCO_MXDATETIME_DATE);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_TimeFromTicks(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *res, *mx, *dt;
-    double ticks;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args,"d", &ticks))
-        return NULL;
-
-    if (!(dt = mxDateTime.DateTime_FromTicks(ticks)))
-        return NULL;
-
-    if (!(mx = mxDateTime.DateTimeDelta_FromDaysAndSeconds(
-            0, ((mxDateTimeObject*)dt)->abstime)))
-    {
-        Py_DECREF(dt);
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
-    Py_DECREF(dt);
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                PSYCO_MXDATETIME_TIME);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-PyObject *
-psyco_TimestampFromTicks(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
-{
-    PyObject *mx, *res;
-    double ticks;
-
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "d", &ticks))
-        return NULL;
-
-    if (!(mx = mxDateTime.DateTime_FromTicks(ticks)))
-        return NULL;
-
-    res = PyObject_CallFunction((PyObject *)&mxdatetimeType, "Oi", mx,
-                                 PSYCO_MXDATETIME_TIMESTAMP);
-    Py_DECREF(mx);
-    return res;
-}
-
-#endif
-
 PyObject *
 psyco_DateFromMx(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
diff --git a/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.h b/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.h
index 1b5d2a64..4b1df689 100644
--- a/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.h
+++ b/psycopg/adapter_mxdatetime.h
@@ -44,35 +44,6 @@ typedef struct {
 
 } mxdatetimeObject;
 
-/* functions exported to psycopgmodule.c */
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_Date(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_Date_doc \
-    "Date(year, month, day) -> new date"
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_Time(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_Time_doc \
-    "Time(hour, minutes, seconds) -> new time"
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_Timestamp(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_Timestamp_doc \
-    "Time(year, month, day, hour, minutes, seconds) -> new timestamp"
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_DateFromTicks(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_DateFromTicks_doc \
-    "DateFromTicks(ticks) -> new date"
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_TimeFromTicks(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_TimeFromTicks_doc \
-    "TimeFromTicks(ticks) -> new time"
-
-HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_TimestampFromTicks(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
-#define psyco_TimestampFromTicks_doc \
-    "TimestampFromTicks(ticks) -> new timestamp"
-
-#endif /* PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME */
-
 HIDDEN int psyco_adapter_mxdatetime_init(void);
 
 HIDDEN PyObject *psyco_DateFromMx(PyObject *module, PyObject *args);
diff --git a/psycopg/psycopgmodule.c b/psycopg/psycopgmodule.c
index 6b79442f..596ca31c 100644
--- a/psycopg/psycopgmodule.c
+++ b/psycopg/psycopgmodule.c
@@ -970,13 +970,6 @@ mxdatetime_init(PyObject *module)
     if (mxDateTime_ImportModuleAndAPI()) {
         Dprintf("psycopgmodule: mx.DateTime module import failed");
         PyErr_Clear();
-
-        /* only fail if the mx typacaster should have been the default */
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
-            "can't import mx.DateTime module (requested as default adapter)");
-        return -1;
-#endif
     }
 
     /* If we can't find mx.DateTime objects at runtime,
diff --git a/psycopg/typecast_datetime.c b/psycopg/typecast_datetime.c
index d7804007..7e5789b2 100644
--- a/psycopg/typecast_datetime.c
+++ b/psycopg/typecast_datetime.c
@@ -458,10 +458,8 @@ typecast_PYINTERVAL_cast(const char *str, Py_ssize_t len, PyObject *curs)
 
 /* psycopg defaults to using python datetime types */
 
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME
 #define typecast_DATE_cast typecast_PYDATE_cast
 #define typecast_TIME_cast typecast_PYTIME_cast
 #define typecast_INTERVAL_cast typecast_PYINTERVAL_cast
 #define typecast_DATETIME_cast typecast_PYDATETIME_cast
 #define typecast_DATETIMETZ_cast typecast_PYDATETIMETZ_cast
-#endif
diff --git a/psycopg/typecast_mxdatetime.c b/psycopg/typecast_mxdatetime.c
index ed0f99e0..46147cc3 100644
--- a/psycopg/typecast_mxdatetime.c
+++ b/psycopg/typecast_mxdatetime.c
@@ -240,13 +240,3 @@ typecast_MXINTERVAL_cast(const char *str, Py_ssize_t len, PyObject *curs)
             days, seconds);
     return mxDateTime.DateTimeDelta_FromDaysAndSeconds(days, seconds);
 }
-
-/* psycopg defaults to using mx types */
-
-#ifdef PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME
-#define typecast_DATE_cast typecast_MXDATE_cast
-#define typecast_TIME_cast typecast_MXTIME_cast
-#define typecast_INTERVAL_cast typecast_MXINTERVAL_cast
-#define typecast_DATETIME_cast typecast_MXDATE_cast
-#define typecast_DATETIMETZ_cast typecast_MXDATE_cast
-#endif
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index f1f57e64..43c61d16 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -7,9 +7,6 @@ define=
 # different name set the following option to the pg_config full path.
 pg_config=
 
-# Set to 1 to use Python datetime objects for default date/time representation.
-use_pydatetime=1
-
 # If the build system does not find the mx.DateTime headers, try
 # setting its value to the right path.
 mx_include_dir=
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1bdc9353..a45ee310 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -523,12 +523,8 @@ depends = [
 parser = configparser.ConfigParser()
 parser.read('setup.cfg')
 
-# Choose a datetime module
-have_pydatetime = True
-have_mxdatetime = False
-use_pydatetime = parser.getboolean('build_ext', 'use_pydatetime')
-
 # check for mx package
+have_mxdatetime = False
 mxincludedir = ''
 if parser.has_option('build_ext', 'mx_include_dir'):
     mxincludedir = parser.get('build_ext', 'mx_include_dir')
@@ -543,25 +539,6 @@ if mxincludedir.strip() and os.path.exists(mxincludedir):
     have_mxdatetime = True
     version_flags.append('mx')
 
-# now decide which package will be the default for date/time typecasts
-if have_pydatetime and (use_pydatetime or not have_mxdatetime):
-    define_macros.append(('PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_PYDATETIME', '1'))
-elif have_mxdatetime:
-    define_macros.append(('PSYCOPG_DEFAULT_MXDATETIME', '1'))
-else:
-    error_message = """\
-psycopg requires a datetime module:
-    mx.DateTime module not found
-    python datetime module not found
-
-Note that psycopg needs the module headers and not just the module
-itself. If you installed Python or mx.DateTime from a binary package
-you probably need to install its companion -dev or -devel package."""
-
-    for line in error_message.split("\n"):
-        sys.stderr.write("error: " + line)
-    sys.exit(1)
-
 # generate a nice version string to avoid confusion when users report bugs
 version_flags.append('pq3')     # no more a choice
 version_flags.append('ext')     # no more a choice