diff --git a/doc/builders.rst b/doc/builders.rst
index ec550e825..ffaa1e14f 100644
--- a/doc/builders.rst
+++ b/doc/builders.rst
@@ -207,16 +207,10 @@ The builder's "name" must be given to the **-b** command-line option of
    .. autoattribute:: supported_image_types
 
 Note that a direct PDF builder is being provided by `rinohtype`_. The builder's
-name is ``rinoh``. Refer to the `rinohtype manual`_ for details. There is also
-PDF builder using ReportLab in `rst2pdf`_ version 0.12 or greater. However,
-rst2pdf is no longer being actively maintained and suffers from some problems
-when used with recent Sphinx versions.  See the `rst2pdf manual`_ for usage
-instructions.
+name is ``rinoh``. Refer to the `rinohtype manual`_ for details.
 
 .. _rinohtype: https://github.com/brechtm/rinohtype
 .. _rinohtype manual: http://www.mos6581.org/rinohtype/quickstart.html#sphinx-builder
-.. _rst2pdf: https://github.com/rst2pdf/rst2pdf
-.. _rst2pdf manual: https://ralsina.me/static/manual.pdf
 
 .. module:: sphinx.builders.text
 .. class:: TextBuilder
diff --git a/doc/faq.rst b/doc/faq.rst
index 6643b18c8..8798fd5db 100644
--- a/doc/faq.rst
+++ b/doc/faq.rst
@@ -11,12 +11,9 @@ How do I...
 
 ... create PDF files without LaTeX?
    `rinohtype`_ provides a PDF builder that can be used as a drop-in
-   replacement for the LaTeX builder.  Alternatively, you can use `rst2pdf`_
-   version 0.12 or greater which comes with built-in Sphinx integration.  See
-   the :ref:`builders` section for details.
+   replacement for the LaTeX builder.
 
    .. _rinohtype: https://github.com/brechtm/rinohtype
-   .. _rst2pdf: https://github.com/rst2pdf/rst2pdf
 
 ... get section numbers?
    They are automatic in LaTeX output; for HTML, give a ``:numbered:`` option to
diff --git a/doc/intro.rst b/doc/intro.rst
index 1d4452a40..b258c7097 100644
--- a/doc/intro.rst
+++ b/doc/intro.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ you have a directory containing a bunch of reST-formatted documents (and
 possibly subdirectories of docs in there as well), Sphinx can generate a
 nicely-organized arrangement of HTML files (in some other directory) for easy
 browsing and navigation.  But from the same source, it can also generate a PDF
-file using LaTeX, `rinohtype`_ or `rst2pdf`_ (see :ref:`builders`).
+file using LaTeX.
 
 The focus is on hand-written documentation, rather than auto-generated API docs.
 Though there is support for that kind of documentation as well (which is
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ also `Write the docs <https://write-the-docs.readthedocs.io/>`_, written by Eric
 Holscher.
 
 .. _rinohtype: https://github.com/brechtm/rinohtype
-.. _rst2pdf: https://github.com/rst2pdf/rst2pdf
 
 Conversion from other systems
 -----------------------------
diff --git a/sphinx/registry.py b/sphinx/registry.py
index e48c12f96..a3e092da1 100644
--- a/sphinx/registry.py
+++ b/sphinx/registry.py
@@ -332,8 +332,6 @@ class SphinxComponentRegistry(object):
 
         if metadata is None:
             metadata = {}
-            if extname == 'rst2pdf.pdfbuilder':
-                metadata['parallel_read_safe'] = True
         elif not isinstance(metadata, dict):
             logger.warning(__('extension %r returned an unsupported object from '
                               'its setup() function; it should return None or a '