diff --git a/rtc_base/BUILD.gn b/rtc_base/BUILD.gn
index 6b5c918f85..f6544d106a 100644
--- a/rtc_base/BUILD.gn
+++ b/rtc_base/BUILD.gn
@@ -831,10 +831,6 @@ rtc_library("rtc_json") {
     deps += [ "//third_party/jsoncpp" ]
   } else {
     include_dirs = [ "$rtc_jsoncpp_root" ]
-
-    # When defined changes the include path for json.h to where it is
-    # expected to be when building json outside of the standalone build.
-    defines += [ "WEBRTC_EXTERNAL_JSON" ]
   }
   absl_deps = [ "//third_party/abseil-cpp/absl/strings" ]
 }
diff --git a/rtc_base/strings/json.h b/rtc_base/strings/json.h
index 618cb71b04..3e4bac6d89 100644
--- a/rtc_base/strings/json.h
+++ b/rtc_base/strings/json.h
@@ -15,12 +15,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "absl/strings/string_view.h"
-
-#if !defined(WEBRTC_EXTERNAL_JSON)
 #include "json/json.h"
-#else
-#include "third_party/jsoncpp/json.h"
-#endif
 
 namespace rtc {