diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
index c372f3404d1b..fd510238c86b 100644
--- a/pytest.ini
+++ b/pytest.ini
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ pep8ignore =
 
     setup.py E402
     setupext.py E301 E302 E501
-    setup_external_compile.py E302 E711
 
     versioneer.py ALL  # External file.
     tools/gh_api.py ALL  # External file.
diff --git a/setup_external_compile.py b/setup_external_compile.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 40f5e8f4aa89..000000000000
--- a/setup_external_compile.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-# This file is copied from https://github.com/jbmohler/matplotlib-winbuild
-# Only the needed functions were kept.
-"""
-This file extracts and builds library dependencies libpng, zlib, & freetype2 on
-MS Windows.  It also extract tcl/tk for the header files.
-
-There are four possible build targets -- one for each permutation of VS 2008,
-2010 and 32/64 bit.  This builds the configuration that matches the Python
-install that is executing.
-
-For Python 2.6, 2.7, 3.2:
-
-- VS 2008, 32 bit -- Windows SDK v7.0
-- VS 2008, 64 bit -- Windows SDK v7.0
-
-For Python 3.3, 3.4:
-
-- VS 2010, 32 bit -- Windows SDK v7.1
-- VS 2010, 64 bit -- Windows SDK v7.1
-"""
-
-import platform
-import distutils.msvc9compiler as msvc
-
-# Configuration selection & declaration:
-X64 = platform.architecture()[0] == '64bit'
-xXX = 'x64' if X64 else 'x86'
-
-def prepare_build_cmd(build_cmd, **kwargs):
-    VCVARSALL = msvc.find_vcvarsall(10.0)
-    if VCVARSALL == None:
-        raise RuntimeError('Microsoft VS 2010 required')
-    return build_cmd.format(vcvarsall=VCVARSALL, xXX=xXX, **kwargs)
diff --git a/setupext.py b/setupext.py
index 752ef3246cae..fbf8a8f599c6 100644
--- a/setupext.py
+++ b/setupext.py
@@ -1124,26 +1124,27 @@ def do_custom_build(self):
             subprocess.check_call(["make"], env=env, cwd=src_path)
         else:
             # compilation on windows
+            shutil.rmtree(str(Path(src_path, "objs")), ignore_errors=True)
             FREETYPE_BUILD_CMD = r"""
 call "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0\Bin\SetEnv.Cmd" ^
     /Release /{xXX} /xp
 call "{vcvarsall}" {xXX}
 set MSBUILD=C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe
 %MSBUILD% "builds\windows\{vc20xx}\freetype.sln" ^
-    /t:Clean;Build /p:Configuration="{config}";Platform={WinXX}
+    /t:Clean;Build /p:Configuration="Release";Platform={WinXX}
 """
-            from setup_external_compile import prepare_build_cmd, X64, xXX
+            import distutils.msvc9compiler as msvc
             # Note: freetype has no build profile for 2014, so we don't bother...
             vc = 'vc2010'
-            WinXX = 'x64' if X64 else 'Win32'
-
-            cmdfile = os.path.join("build", "build_freetype.cmd")
-            with open(cmdfile, 'w') as cmd:
-                cmd.write(prepare_build_cmd(FREETYPE_BUILD_CMD, vc20xx=vc, WinXX=WinXX,
-                                            config='Release'))
-
-            shutil.rmtree(str(Path(src_path, "objs")), ignore_errors=True)
-            subprocess.check_call([os.path.abspath(cmdfile)],
+            WinXX = 'x64' if platform.architecture()[0] == '64bit' else 'Win32'
+            xXX = 'x64' if platform.architecture()[0] == '64bit' else 'x86'
+            vcvarsall = msvc.find_vcvarsall(10.0)
+            if vcvarsall is None:
+                raise RuntimeError('Microsoft VS 2010 required')
+            cmdfile = Path("build/build_freetype.cmd")
+            cmdfile.write_text(FREETYPE_BUILD_CMD.format(
+                vc20xx=vc, WinXX=WinXX, xXX=xXX, vcvarsall=vcvarsall))
+            subprocess.check_call([str(cmdfile.resolve())],
                                   shell=True, cwd=src_path)
             # Move to the corresponding Unix build path.
             Path(src_path, "objs/.libs").mkdir()