diff --git a/CMake/vtkModuleMacros.cmake b/CMake/vtkModuleMacros.cmake
index fdd83ed8fc..4986582a5b 100644
--- a/CMake/vtkModuleMacros.cmake
+++ b/CMake/vtkModuleMacros.cmake
@@ -885,18 +885,6 @@ macro(vtk_module_third_party _pkg)
       set(vtk${_lower}_DEFINITIONS ${${_upper}_DEFINITIONS})
     endif()
 
-    #a workaround for bad FindHDF5 behavior in which deb or opt can
-    #end up empty. cmake >= 2.8.12.2 makes this uneccessary
-    string(REGEX MATCH "debug;.*optimized;.*"
-           _remove_deb_opt "${vtk${_lower}_LIBRARIES}")
-    if (_remove_deb_opt)
-      set(_tmp ${vtk${_lower}_LIBRARIES})
-      list(REMOVE_ITEM _tmp "debug")
-      list(REMOVE_ITEM _tmp "optimized")
-      list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES _tmp)
-      set(vtk${_lower}_LIBRARIES ${_tmp})
-    endif()
-
     set(vtk${_lower}_INCLUDE_DIRS "")
   else()
     if(_nolibs)