diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index 39eaf7d975..f2fc7cc001 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -208,19 +208,6 @@ fi
 AC_SUBST(PERLINCL)
 
 
-### -------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-# Check for 'swig'
-AC_PATH_PROG(SWIG,swig,no)	# Sets @SWIG@
-AC_ARG_WITH(swig,
-  [  --with-swig=FILE              which swig executable to use ],
-  SWIG="${with_swig}")
-
-if test x"$SWIG" = xno; then
-    AC_MSG_ERROR([Cannot find Swig. Try using the --with-swig flag.])
-fi
-
-
 ### --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ### Libraries
 LIBS="$LIBS -lm"
@@ -324,7 +311,6 @@ AC_OUTPUT(
           src/gnome/Makefile
           src/guile/Makefile
           src/optional/Makefile
-          src/optional/swig/Makefile
           src/pixmaps/Makefile
           src/quotes/Makefile
           src/register/Makefile
diff --git a/src/FileDialog.h b/src/FileDialog.h
index b7870ff15e..2ed5213a34 100644
--- a/src/FileDialog.h
+++ b/src/FileDialog.h
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
  * These utilities are written in a GUI-independent fashion, and should
  * work just fine with the Motif, gnome/gtk and Qt interfaces.
  * These utilities are appropriate for direct invocation from guile.
- * (they should be wrapped by swig or g-wrap).
+ * (they should be wrapped by g-wrap).
  *
  * These GUI dialogues implement and maintain a single global "session"
  * that defines the currently edited account group.  In a sense, these
diff --git a/src/engine/Account.c b/src/engine/Account.c
index 54eafcf4d6..8480fe73f4 100644
--- a/src/engine/Account.c
+++ b/src/engine/Account.c
@@ -1286,7 +1286,7 @@ xaccAccountSetTaxRelated (Account *account, gboolean tax_related)
 /********************************************************************\
 \********************************************************************/
 
-Account * 
+Account *
 IthAccount (Account **list, int i)
 {
    if (!list || 0 > i) return NULL;
diff --git a/src/engine/Account.h b/src/engine/Account.h
index fc7d6c31c9..0dfeb530f5 100644
--- a/src/engine/Account.h
+++ b/src/engine/Account.h
@@ -316,13 +316,10 @@ const char * xaccAccountGetPriceSrc (Account *acc);
 
 void xaccAccountSortSplits(Account *);
 
-#ifndef SWIG
-
 gpointer xaccAccountForEachSplit(Account *s,
                                  gpointer (*thunk)(Split *s, gpointer data),
                                  gpointer data);
 
-
 /* Traverse all of the transactions in the given account.  Continue
    processing IFF proc does not return FALSE. This function does not
    descend recursively to traverse transactions in child accounts.
@@ -357,6 +354,4 @@ xaccAccountVisitUnvisitedTransactions(Account *acc,
                                       void *data,
                                       GHashTable *visited_txns);
 
-#endif /* SWIG */
-
 #endif /* __XACC_ACCOUNT_H__ */
diff --git a/src/engine/Group.h b/src/engine/Group.h
index 597633ea0f..11cc4eb0de 100644
--- a/src/engine/Group.h
+++ b/src/engine/Group.h
@@ -197,8 +197,6 @@ char * xaccAccountGetNextChildCode (Account *acc, int num_digits);
 void   xaccGroupAutoCode (AccountGroup *grp, int num_digits);
 void   xaccGroupDepthAutoCode (AccountGroup *grp);
 
-#ifndef SWIG
-
 /* if the function returns null for a given item, it won't show up in
    the result list */
 GSList *xaccGroupMapAccounts(AccountGroup *grp,
@@ -354,6 +352,4 @@ xaccGroupVisitUnvisitedTransactions(AccountGroup *g,
                                     void *data,
                                     GHashTable *visited_txns);
 
-#endif /* SWIG */
-
 #endif /* __XACC_ACCOUNT_GROUP_H__ */
diff --git a/src/engine/Transaction.h b/src/engine/Transaction.h
index 9411cc2dd3..bac61b7861 100644
--- a/src/engine/Transaction.h
+++ b/src/engine/Transaction.h
@@ -215,9 +215,7 @@ const char *  xaccTransGetNum (Transaction *trans);
 const char *  xaccTransGetDescription (Transaction *trans);
 const char *  xaccTransGetNotes (Transaction *trans);
 time_t        xaccTransGetDate (Transaction *trans);
-#ifndef SWIG  /* swig chokes on long long */
 long long     xaccTransGetDateL (Transaction *trans);
-#endif
 
 void          xaccTransGetDateTS (Transaction *trans, Timespec *ts);
 #define xaccTransGetDatePostedTS xaccTransGetDateTS
diff --git a/src/engine/date.h b/src/engine/date.h
index 1b2b03e137..26356d74d7 100644
--- a/src/engine/date.h
+++ b/src/engine/date.h
@@ -64,13 +64,12 @@ typedef enum
  * even on the 32-bit Intel x86 and PowerPC architectures.  I'm
  * assuming that all the other modern compilers are clean on this
  * issue too. */
-#ifndef SWIG /* swig 1.1p5 can't hack the long long type */
+
 struct timespec64
 {
    long long int tv_sec;     
    long int tv_nsec;
 };
-#endif /* SWIG */
 
 typedef struct timespec64 Timespec;
 
diff --git a/src/optional/Makefile.am b/src/optional/Makefile.am
index 2398cb8cf2..b782904cc3 100644
--- a/src/optional/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/optional/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
 
-#SUBDIRS = swig
-
 EXTRA_DIST = \
   .cvsignore
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/.cvsignore b/src/optional/swig/.cvsignore
deleted file mode 100644
index c4971b3e45..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/.cvsignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-Makefile
-Makefile.in
-.deps
-.libs
-*.lo
-*.la
-gnucash.engine.i
-gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap.c
-gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap_int.c
-gnucash.engine_wrap.doc
-gnucash.pm
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/Makefile.am b/src/optional/swig/Makefile.am
deleted file mode 100644
index 68f78b0e62..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/Makefile.am
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,115 +0,0 @@
-
-docdir = ${GNC_DOC_INSTALL_DIR}
-doc_DATA = \
-  gnucash.engine_wrap.doc
-
-perlsharedir = ${GNC_SHAREDIR}/perl
-perlshare_DATA = gnucash.pm
-
-perllibdir = ${GNC_LIBDIR}/perl
-
-perllib_LTLIBRARIES = libgncswig.la
-
-libgncswig_la_SOURCES = \
-  helperfuncs.c \
-  gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap.c
-
-libgncswig_la_LDFLAGS = -version-info 1:1:1
-
-noinst_HEADERS = \
-  helperfuncs.h
-
-EXTRA_DIST = \
-  .cvsignore \
-  examples/scan-acct.pl \
-  perl5_swig_annotations.i \
-  gnucash-swig-defines.c
-
-CFLAGS = @CFLAGS@ ${GLIB_CFLAGS} -Dbool=char
-
-INCLUDES = \
-  -I@PERLINCL@/CORE \
-  -I${top_srcdir}/src/engine
-
-libgncswig_la_LIBADD = \
-  @GLIB_LIBS@ \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Account.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/DateUtils.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/FileIO.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/GNCId.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Group.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Query.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Scrub.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Session.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/TransLog.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Transaction.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Backend.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/date.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/util.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/guid.lo \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/md5.lo
-
-SWIG_INPUT_HDRS := \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Account.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/DateUtils.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/FileIO.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/GNCId.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Group.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Query.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Scrub.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Session.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/TransLog.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/Transaction.h \
-  ${top_srcdir}/src/engine/date.h
-
-## This is kinda ugly, but swig insists that the .so file be named the
-## same as the .pm file, and automake won't tolerate libraries that
-## aren't named lib*.so...
-install-data-local: libgncswig.la
-	cd ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir} && rm -f gnucash.so
-	if [ -f ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir}/libgncswig.so ]; then \
-		cd ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir} && ln -s libgncswig.so gnucash.so; \
-	elif [ -f ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir}/libgncswig.so.1.1 ]; then \
-		cd ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir} && \
-                ln -s libgncswig.so.1.1 gnucash.so; \
-	else \
-		echo "Can't find libgncswig shared library!" \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi
-
-uninstall-local:
-	rm -f ${DESTDIR}${perllibdir}/gnucash.so
-
-gnucash.engine.i: ${SWIG_INPUT_HDRS} perl5_swig_annotations.i
-	@echo Making $@.
-	@echo "%module gnucash" > $@
-	@echo "%include perl5_swig_annotations.i" >> $@
-	@echo "%{" >> $@
-	@for file in ${SWIG_INPUT_HDRS}; \
-        do \
-          echo "#include <`basename $$file`>" >> $@; \
-	done
-	@echo "%}" >> $@
-	@for file in ${SWIG_INPUT_HDRS}; \
-        do \
-          echo "%include `basename $$file`" >> $@; \
-	done
-
-CLEANFILES += gnucash.engine.i
-
-gnucash.engine_wrap.doc gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap_int.c: gnucash.engine.i
-	${SWIG} -perl5 -I.. -I${top_srcdir}/src/engine -o $@ gnucash.engine.i
-CLEANFILES += gnucash.engine_wrap.doc gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap_int.c
-
-gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap.c: gnucash-swig-defines.c \
-                             gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap_int.c
-	cat gnucash-swig-defines.c gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap_int.c > $@
-CLEANFILES += gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap.c
-
-CLEANFILES += gnucash.pm gnucash.so
-
-# We have to do this because otherwise automake insists on putting
-# these files into the dist tarfile.  If there's a a better way,
-# by all means, let us know...
-dist-hook:
-	rm -f ${distdir}/gnucash-engine-perl5_wrap.c
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/README b/src/optional/swig/README
deleted file mode 100644
index 452cd91707..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/README
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-
-This README needs some serious help.
-
-SWIG is now used only to wrap perl5, and I make no guarantees about
-the safety of the resulting interface.  It may or may not have large
-memory leaks and other problems.  Anyone who wants to investigate this
-is welcome to. (RLB)
-
-The guile interface is now handled via g-wrap (../../lib/g-wrap).  As
-far as I know, it is reasonably solid.  Anyone who wants to know why I
-switched to g-wrap can ask, and I'll explain.  Sooner or later I'll
-probably generate a FAQ entry, but I want to get this out the door.
-Part of the reason has to do with the fact the SWIG's guile interface
-leaked memory like a sieve. (RLB)
-
-./examples contains whatever examples we've accumulated to date.
-
-----------------------
-TBD:
--- modify configure to check perl paths
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl b/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl
deleted file mode 100755
index bccebc2034..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/examples/scan-acct.pl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/perl -w
-
-# gnucash perl demo:
-#
-# This file demonstrates how to open an acount file and print 
-# the names and balances of the top-level accounts in the file.
-#
-# use lib '../swig/perl5/';
-use lib '../perl5/';
-use gnucash;                                           
-package gnucash;
-
-die "Usage: $0 <filename>" if $#ARGV < 0;
-print "its $ARGV[0]\n";
-
-$sess = gnucash::xaccMallocSession ();
-$grp = gnucash::xaccSessionBeginFile ($sess,$ARGV[0]);
-$numacc = gnucash::xaccGroupGetNumAccounts ($grp);
-print "Loaded $numacc accounts\n\n";
-
-for ($i=0; $i<$numacc; $i++) {
-   $acct = gnucash::xaccGroupGetAccount ($grp, $i);
-   $acctname = gnucash::xaccAccountGetName ($acct);
-   $baln = gnucash::xaccAccountGetBalance ($acct);
-   print "\tAccount: $acctname \tBalance: $baln\n";
-}
-
-gnucash::xaccSessionEnd ($sess);
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/gnucash-swig-defines.c b/src/optional/swig/gnucash-swig-defines.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ac531362a..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/gnucash-swig-defines.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-#define sv_undef PL_sv_undef
-#define sv_yes PL_sv_yes
-#define na PL_na
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.c b/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.c
deleted file mode 100644
index e382fbc124..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-#include "helperfuncs.h"
-
-FILE *
-get_fileptr_stdin() {
-  return stdin;
-}
-
-FILE *
-get_fileptr_stdout() {
-  return stdout;
-}
-
-FILE *
-get_fileptr_stderr() {
-  return stderr;
-}
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.h b/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 749f38fdaa..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/helperfuncs.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef __HELPERFUNCS_H__
-#define __HELPERFUNCS_H__
-
-#include <stdio.h>
-
-FILE *get_fileptr_stdin();
-FILE *get_fileptr_stdout();
-FILE *get_fileptr_stderr();
-
-#endif
diff --git a/src/optional/swig/perl5_swig_annotations.i b/src/optional/swig/perl5_swig_annotations.i
deleted file mode 100644
index aa1938be9a..0000000000
--- a/src/optional/swig/perl5_swig_annotations.i
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,87 +0,0 @@
-/* 
- * FILE:
- * perl5_swig_annotations.i
- *
- * FUNCTION:
- * clean up various aspects of the gnucash engine interface with 
- * respect to the SWIG-generated perl bindings. This includes:
- * -- handling time_t values as ints
- * -- converting C ** arrays to perl arrays
- *
- * HISTORY:
- * Created by Linas Vepstas January 1999
- * Copyright (c) 1999 Linas Vepstas 
- */
-
-#ifdef DOESNT_WORK_DONT_KNOW_WHY
-%apply int {time_t }
-#endif /* DOESNT_WORK_DONT_KNOW_WHY */
-
-/* Convert the return values from the function to perl values */
-/* specifically, create a new perl scalar and store the int value there */
-%typemap(perl5, out) time_t {
-
-  $target = newSViv ((IV) *($source));
-  /* 
-   * An alternate way of writing this code would have been ...
-   *    $target = sv_newmortal ();
-   *    sv_setiv ($target, (IV) $source);
-   */
-  argvi ++;
-  // printf ("Info: converted return time_t secs to %d \n", (int) SvIV($target));
-}
-
-%typemap(perl5, in) time_t   *(time_t temp)  {
-  /* Convert function arguments from perl to the C represntation */
-  /* in particular, convert perl scalar into integer, then cast to time_t */
-  temp = (time_t) SvIV($source);
-  $target = &temp;
-  // printf ("Info: time_t input arg is %ld \n", * ($target));
-}
-
-/* Convert gboolean values */
-%typemap(perl5, in) gboolean *(gboolean temp) {
-  temp = (gboolean) SvIV($source);
-  $target = &temp;
-}
-
-%typemap(perl5, out) gboolean {
-  $target = newSViv ((IV) *($source));
-}
-
-/* --------------------------------------------------------- */
-
-#ifdef DOESNT_WORK_DONT_KNOW_WHY
-// well, this sort of works ... it does create an array,
-// but it doesn't seem to be an array of SplitPtr,
-// which is what we want if we are to have 
-//    foreach $split (@splits) {...}
-
-
-// Creates a new Perl array and places a Split ** into it
-%typemap(perl5,out) Split ** {
-    AV *myav;
-    SV **svs;
-    int i = 0,len = 0;
-
-    /* Figure out how many elements we have */
-    while ($source[len]) len++;
-    svs = (SV **) malloc(len*sizeof(SV *));
-    printf ("Info: measured Split array length of len=%d\n", len);
-
-    /* fill in array of scalar values */
-    for (i = 0; i < len ; i++) {
-        svs[i] = sv_newmortal();
-        sv_setref_pv (svs[i], "SplitPtr", $source[i]);
-    };
-
-    /* convert array of scalars into perl array */
-    myav =  av_make(len,svs);
-    free(svs);
-    // $target = myav;
-    $target = newRV((SV*)myav);
-    sv_2mortal($target);
-    argvi ++;
-}
-
-#endif /* DOESNT_WORK_DONT_KNOW_WHY */