diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d7b758b015..da60a89110 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ endif
 SOURCES = $(shell find . -path './.*' -prune -o \( \( -name '*.go' -o -name '*.c' \) -a ! -name '*_test.go' \) -print) Makefile
 
 BUILDTAGS_CROSS ?= containers_image_openpgp exclude_graphdriver_btrfs exclude_graphdriver_overlay
-CONTAINER_RUNTIME := $(shell command -v podman 2> /dev/null || echo docker)
 OCI_RUNTIME ?= ""
 
 # The 'sort' below is crucial: without it, 'make docs' behaves differently