--- a/ext/rugged/extconf.rb
+++ b/ext/rugged/extconf.rb
@@ -66,17 +66,6 @@ if arg_config("--use-system-libraries",
   puts "Building Rugged using system libraries.\n"
 
   dir_config('git2').any? or pkg_config('libgit2')
-
-  major = 1
-  minor = 8
-
-  try_compile(<<-SRC) or abort "libgit2 version is not compatible, expected ~> #{major}.#{minor}.0"
-#include <git2/version.h>
-
-#if LIBGIT2_VER_MAJOR != #{major} || LIBGIT2_VER_MINOR != #{minor}
-#error libgit2 version is not compatible
-#endif
-  SRC
 else
   if !find_executable('cmake')
     abort "ERROR: CMake is required to build Rugged."