diff --git a/Jamfile b/Jamfile
index b73549e38..a24cbdfe9 100755
--- a/Jamfile
+++ b/Jamfile
@@ -420,8 +420,7 @@ feature.compose <asserts>production : <define>TORRENT_PRODUCTION_ASSERTS=1 <defi
 feature.compose <asserts>off : <define>TORRENT_USE_ASSERTS=0 ;
 feature.compose <asserts>system : <define>TORRENT_USE_SYSTEM_ASSERTS=1 ;
 
-feature windows-version : xp vista win7 : composite propagated link-incompatible ;
-feature.compose <windows-version>xp : <define>_WIN32_WINNT=0x0501 ;
+feature windows-version : vista win7 : composite propagated link-incompatible ;
 feature.compose <windows-version>vista : <define>_WIN32_WINNT=0x0600 ;
 feature.compose <windows-version>win7 : <define>_WIN32_WINNT=0x0601 ;
 
diff --git a/src/assert.cpp b/src/assert.cpp
index cf77da4d3..595beb844 100644
--- a/src/assert.cpp
+++ b/src/assert.cpp
@@ -97,9 +97,6 @@ std::string demangle(char const* name)
 }
 #elif defined WIN32
 
-#undef _WIN32_WINNT
-#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501 // XP
-
 #include "windows.h"
 #include "dbghelp.h"
 
@@ -143,9 +140,6 @@ TORRENT_EXPORT void print_backtrace(char* out, int len, int max_depth)
 // visual studio 9 and up appears to support this
 #elif defined WIN32 && _MSC_VER >= 1500
 
-#undef _WIN32_WINNT
-#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501 // XP
-
 #include "windows.h"
 #include "libtorrent/utf8.hpp"