diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
index 8e78e66fb..2f82678a7 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
@@ -402,33 +402,15 @@
 
 %% COLOR (general)
 %
-% FIXME: the reasons might be obsolete (better color drivers now?)
-% use pdfoutput for pTeX and dvipdfmx
-% when pTeX (\kanjiskip is defined), set pdfoutput to evade \include{pdfcolor}
-\ifx\kanjiskip\undefined\else
-  \newcount\pdfoutput\pdfoutput=0
-\fi
-
-% for PDF output, use colors and maximal compression
-\newif\ifsphinxpdfoutput % used in \maketitle
-\ifx\pdfoutput\undefined\else
- \ifnum\pdfoutput=\z@
-  \let\py@NormalColor\relax
-  \let\py@TitleColor\relax
- \else
-  \sphinxpdfoutputtrue
-  \input{pdfcolor}
-  \def\py@NormalColor{\color[rgb]{0.0,0.0,0.0}}
-  \def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
-  \pdfcompresslevel=9
- \fi
-\fi
-
-% XeLaTeX can do colors, too
-\ifx\XeTeXrevision\undefined\else
-  \def\py@NormalColor{\color[rgb]{0.0,0.0,0.0}}
-  \def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
-\fi
+% FIXME: \normalcolor should probably be used in place of \py@NormalColor
+% elsewhere, and \py@NormalColor shoudl never be defined. \normalcolor
+% switches to the colour from last \color call in preamble.
+\def\py@NormalColor{\color{black}}
+% FIXME: it is probably better to use \color{TitleColor}, as TitleColor
+% can be customized from 'sphinxsetup', and drop usage of \py@TitleColor
+\def\py@TitleColor{\color{TitleColor}}
+% FIXME: this line should be dropped, as "9" is default anyhow.
+\ifdefined\pdfcompresslevel\pdfcompresslevel = 9 \fi
 
 
 %% PAGE STYLING
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
index bcb648336..ca71a625a 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxhowto.cls
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
 %
 \renewcommand{\maketitle}{%
   \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\newline\null\par
-  \ifsphinxpdfoutput
+  % FIXME: use \hypersetup{pdfauthor={\@author}, pdftitle={\@title}}
+  \ifdefined\pdfinfo
     \begingroup
     % These \defs are required to deal with multi-line authors; it
     % changes \\ to ', ' (comma-space), making it pass muster for
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
index b2525b40f..e181a74bc 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinxmanual.cls
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@
     \let\footnotesize\small
     \let\footnoterule\relax
     \noindent\rule{\textwidth}{1pt}\newline\null\par
-    \ifsphinxpdfoutput
+    % FIXME: use \hypersetup{pdfauthor={\@author}, pdftitle={\@title}}
+    \ifdefined\pdfinfo
       \begingroup
       % These \defs are required to deal with multi-line authors; it
       % changes \\ to ', ' (comma-space), making it pass muster for