diff --git a/Documentation/Makefile b/Documentation/Makefile
index 59e6ce3a2a..15d9d04f31 100644
--- a/Documentation/Makefile
+++ b/Documentation/Makefile
@@ -150,32 +150,9 @@ endif
 -include ../config.mak.autogen
 -include ../config.mak
 
-#
-# For docbook-xsl ...
-#	-1.68.1,	no extra settings are needed?
-#	1.69.0,		set ASCIIDOC_ROFF?
-#	1.69.1-1.71.0,	set DOCBOOK_SUPPRESS_SP?
-#	1.71.1,		set ASCIIDOC_ROFF?
-#	1.72.0,		set DOCBOOK_XSL_172.
-#	1.73.0-,	no extra settings are needed
-#
-
-ifdef DOCBOOK_XSL_172
-ASCIIDOC_EXTRA += -a git-asciidoc-no-roff
-MANPAGE_XSL = manpage-1.72.xsl
-else
-	ifndef ASCIIDOC_ROFF
-	# docbook-xsl after 1.72 needs the regular XSL, but will not
-	# pass-thru raw roff codes from asciidoc.conf, so turn them off.
-	ASCIIDOC_EXTRA += -a git-asciidoc-no-roff
-	endif
-endif
 ifndef NO_MAN_BOLD_LITERAL
 XMLTO_EXTRA += -m manpage-bold-literal.xsl
 endif
-ifdef DOCBOOK_SUPPRESS_SP
-XMLTO_EXTRA += -m manpage-suppress-sp.xsl
-endif
 
 # Newer DocBook stylesheet emits warning cruft in the output when
 # this is not set, and if set it shows an absolute link.  Older
diff --git a/Documentation/asciidoc.conf b/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
index 8fc4b67081..3e4c13971b 100644
--- a/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
+++ b/Documentation/asciidoc.conf
@@ -31,24 +31,6 @@ ifdef::backend-docbook[]
 endif::backend-docbook[]
 
 ifdef::backend-docbook[]
-ifndef::git-asciidoc-no-roff[]
-# "unbreak" docbook-xsl v1.68 for manpages. v1.69 works with or without this.
-# v1.72 breaks with this because it replaces dots not in roff requests.
-[listingblock]
-<example><title>{title}</title>
-<literallayout class="monospaced">
-ifdef::doctype-manpage[]
-&#10;.ft C&#10;
-endif::doctype-manpage[]
-|
-ifdef::doctype-manpage[]
-&#10;.ft&#10;
-endif::doctype-manpage[]
-</literallayout>
-{title#}</example>
-endif::git-asciidoc-no-roff[]
-
-ifdef::git-asciidoc-no-roff[]
 ifdef::doctype-manpage[]
 # The following two small workarounds insert a simple paragraph after screen
 [listingblock]
@@ -67,7 +49,6 @@ ifdef::doctype-manpage[]
 {title#}</para></formalpara>
 {title%}<simpara></simpara>
 endif::doctype-manpage[]
-endif::git-asciidoc-no-roff[]
 endif::backend-docbook[]
 
 ifdef::doctype-manpage[]
diff --git a/Documentation/manpage-1.72.xsl b/Documentation/manpage-1.72.xsl
deleted file mode 100644
index b4d315cb8c..0000000000
--- a/Documentation/manpage-1.72.xsl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-<!-- manpage-1.72.xsl:
-     special settings for manpages rendered from asciidoc+docbook
-     handles peculiarities in docbook-xsl 1.72.0 -->
-<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
-		version="1.0">
-
-<xsl:import href="manpage-base.xsl"/>
-
-<!-- these are the special values for the roff control characters
-     needed for docbook-xsl 1.72.0 -->
-<xsl:param name="git.docbook.backslash">&#x2593;</xsl:param>
-<xsl:param name="git.docbook.dot"      >&#x2302;</xsl:param>
-
-</xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/Documentation/manpage-base.xsl b/Documentation/manpage-base.xsl
deleted file mode 100644
index a264fa6160..0000000000
--- a/Documentation/manpage-base.xsl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-<!-- manpage-base.xsl:
-     special formatting for manpages rendered from asciidoc+docbook -->
-<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
-		version="1.0">
-
-<!-- these params silence some output from xmlto -->
-<xsl:param name="man.output.quietly" select="1"/>
-<xsl:param name="refentry.meta.get.quietly" select="1"/>
-
-<!-- convert asciidoc callouts to man page format;
-     git.docbook.backslash and git.docbook.dot params
-     must be supplied by another XSL file or other means -->
-<xsl:template match="co">
-	<xsl:value-of select="concat(
-			      $git.docbook.backslash,'fB(',
-			      substring-after(@id,'-'),')',
-			      $git.docbook.backslash,'fR')"/>
-</xsl:template>
-<xsl:template match="calloutlist">
-	<xsl:value-of select="$git.docbook.dot"/>
-	<xsl:text>sp&#10;</xsl:text>
-	<xsl:apply-templates/>
-	<xsl:text>&#10;</xsl:text>
-</xsl:template>
-<xsl:template match="callout">
-	<xsl:value-of select="concat(
-			      $git.docbook.backslash,'fB',
-			      substring-after(@arearefs,'-'),
-			      '. ',$git.docbook.backslash,'fR')"/>
-	<xsl:apply-templates/>
-	<xsl:value-of select="$git.docbook.dot"/>
-	<xsl:text>br&#10;</xsl:text>
-</xsl:template>
-
-</xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/Documentation/manpage-bold-literal.xsl b/Documentation/manpage-bold-literal.xsl
index 94d6c1b545..e13db85693 100644
--- a/Documentation/manpage-bold-literal.xsl
+++ b/Documentation/manpage-bold-literal.xsl
@@ -8,11 +8,9 @@
      this makes literal text easier to distinguish in manpages
      viewed on a tty -->
 <xsl:template match="literal|d:literal">
-	<xsl:value-of select="$git.docbook.backslash"/>
-	<xsl:text>fB</xsl:text>
+	<xsl:text>\fB</xsl:text>
 	<xsl:apply-templates/>
-	<xsl:value-of select="$git.docbook.backslash"/>
-	<xsl:text>fR</xsl:text>
+	<xsl:text>\fR</xsl:text>
 </xsl:template>
 
 </xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/Documentation/manpage-normal.xsl b/Documentation/manpage-normal.xsl
index a48f5b11f3..a9c7ec69f4 100644
--- a/Documentation/manpage-normal.xsl
+++ b/Documentation/manpage-normal.xsl
@@ -1,13 +1,26 @@
 <!-- manpage-normal.xsl:
-     special settings for manpages rendered from asciidoc+docbook
-     handles anything we want to keep away from docbook-xsl 1.72.0 -->
+     special settings for manpages rendered from asciidoc+docbook -->
 <xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
 		version="1.0">
 
-<xsl:import href="manpage-base.xsl"/>
 
-<!-- these are the normal values for the roff control characters -->
-<xsl:param name="git.docbook.backslash">\</xsl:param>
-<xsl:param name="git.docbook.dot"	>.</xsl:param>
+<!-- these params silence some output from xmlto -->
+<xsl:param name="man.output.quietly" select="1"/>
+<xsl:param name="refentry.meta.get.quietly" select="1"/>
+
+<!-- convert asciidoc callouts to man page format -->
+<xsl:template match="co">
+	<xsl:value-of select="concat('\fB(',substring-after(@id,'-'),')\fR')"/>
+</xsl:template>
+<xsl:template match="calloutlist">
+	<xsl:text>.sp&#10;</xsl:text>
+	<xsl:apply-templates/>
+	<xsl:text>&#10;</xsl:text>
+</xsl:template>
+<xsl:template match="callout">
+	<xsl:value-of select="concat('\fB',substring-after(@arearefs,'-'),'. \fR')"/>
+	<xsl:apply-templates/>
+	<xsl:text>.br&#10;</xsl:text>
+</xsl:template>
 
 </xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/Documentation/manpage-suppress-sp.xsl b/Documentation/manpage-suppress-sp.xsl
deleted file mode 100644
index a63c7632a8..0000000000
--- a/Documentation/manpage-suppress-sp.xsl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-<!-- manpage-suppress-sp.xsl:
-     special settings for manpages rendered from asciidoc+docbook
-     handles erroneous, inline .sp in manpage output of some
-     versions of docbook-xsl -->
-<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
-		version="1.0">
-
-<!-- attempt to work around spurious .sp at the tail of the line
-     that some versions of docbook stylesheets seem to add -->
-<xsl:template match="simpara">
-  <xsl:variable name="content">
-    <xsl:apply-templates/>
-  </xsl:variable>
-  <xsl:value-of select="normalize-space($content)"/>
-  <xsl:if test="not(ancestor::authorblurb) and
-                not(ancestor::personblurb)">
-    <xsl:text>&#10;&#10;</xsl:text>
-  </xsl:if>
-</xsl:template>
-
-</xsl:stylesheet>
diff --git a/Documentation/user-manual.conf b/Documentation/user-manual.conf
index d87294de2f..0148f126dc 100644
--- a/Documentation/user-manual.conf
+++ b/Documentation/user-manual.conf
@@ -9,13 +9,3 @@ tilde=&#126;
 
 [linkgit-inlinemacro]
 <ulink url="{target}.html">{target}{0?({0})}</ulink>
-
-ifdef::backend-docbook[]
-# "unbreak" docbook-xsl v1.68 for manpages. v1.69 works with or without this.
-[listingblock]
-<example><title>{title}</title>
-<literallayout class="monospaced">
-|
-</literallayout>
-{title#}</example>
-endif::backend-docbook[]
diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index 22c364f34f..9ba33e6a14 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -206,9 +206,7 @@ Issues of note:
    clone two separate git-htmldocs and git-manpages repositories next
    to the clone of git itself.
 
-   It has been reported that docbook-xsl version 1.72 and 1.73 are
-   buggy; 1.72 misformats manual pages for callouts, and 1.73 needs
-   the patch in contrib/patches/docbook-xsl-manpages-charmap.patch
+   The minimum supported version of docbook-xsl is 1.74.
 
    Users attempting to build the documentation on Cygwin may need to ensure
    that the /etc/xml/catalog file looks something like this:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index dc356ce4dd..998d27d8fe 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -282,12 +282,6 @@ all::
 # Define NO_ST_BLOCKS_IN_STRUCT_STAT if your platform does not have st_blocks
 # field that counts the on-disk footprint in 512-byte blocks.
 #
-# Define DOCBOOK_XSL_172 if you want to format man pages with DocBook XSL v1.72
-# (not v1.73 or v1.71).
-#
-# Define ASCIIDOC_ROFF if your DocBook XSL does not escape raw roff directives
-# (versions 1.68.1 through v1.72).
-#
 # Define GNU_ROFF if your target system uses GNU groff.  This forces
 # apostrophes to be ASCII so that cut&pasting examples to the shell
 # will work.