diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 267ad144..a1df18cb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -186,7 +186,6 @@ endif ()
 
 target_compile_definitions(${GOLDENDICT} PUBLIC
         CMAKE_USED_HACK  # temporal hack to avoid breaking qmake build
-        USE_ICONV
         MAKE_QTMULTIMEDIA_PLAYER
         MAKE_CHINESE_CONVERSION_SUPPORT
         )
diff --git a/src/common/iconv.cc b/src/common/iconv.cc
index 76e36cd5..db677304 100644
--- a/src/common/iconv.cc
+++ b/src/common/iconv.cc
@@ -11,33 +11,20 @@ char const * const Iconv::GdWchar = "UTF-32LE";
 char const * const Iconv::Utf16Le = "UTF-16LE";
 char const * const Iconv::Utf8    = "UTF-8";
 
-using gd::wchar;
-
-Iconv::Iconv( char const * from )
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
-  // the to encoding must be UTF8
-  :
+Iconv::Iconv( char const * from ):
   state( iconv_open( Utf8, from ) )
-#endif
 {
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
   if ( state == (iconv_t)-1 )
     throw exCantInit( strerror( errno ) );
-#else
-  codec = QTextCodec::codecForName( from );
-#endif
 }
 
 Iconv::~Iconv()
 {
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
   iconv_close( state );
-#endif
 }
 
 QString Iconv::convert( void const *& inBuf, size_t & inBytesLeft )
 {
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
   size_t dsz = inBytesLeft;
   //avoid most realloc
   std::vector< char > outBuf( dsz + 32 );
@@ -90,12 +77,6 @@ QString Iconv::convert( void const *& inBuf, size_t & inBytesLeft )
   size_t datasize = outBuf.size() - outBufLeft;
   //  QByteArray ba( &outBuf.front(), datasize );
   return QString::fromUtf8( &outBuf.front(), datasize );
-#else
-  if ( codec )
-    return codec->toUnicode( static_cast< const char * >( inBuf ), inBytesLeft );
-  QByteArray ba( static_cast< const char * >( inBuf ), inBytesLeft );
-  return QString( ba );
-#endif
 }
 
 gd::wstring Iconv::toWstring( char const * fromEncoding, void const * fromData, size_t dataSize )
@@ -104,8 +85,9 @@ gd::wstring Iconv::toWstring( char const * fromEncoding, void const * fromData,
   /// Special-case the dataSize == 0 to avoid any kind of iconv-specific
   /// behaviour in that regard.
 
-  if ( !dataSize )
+  if ( dataSize == 0 ) {
     return {};
+  }
 
   Iconv ic( fromEncoding );
 
@@ -118,8 +100,9 @@ std::string Iconv::toUtf8( char const * fromEncoding, void const * fromData, siz
 {
   // Similar to toWstring
 
-  if ( !dataSize )
+  if ( dataSize == 0 ) {
     return {};
+  }
 
   Iconv ic( fromEncoding );
 
diff --git a/src/common/iconv.hh b/src/common/iconv.hh
index 3f8fa227..ca35354a 100644
--- a/src/common/iconv.hh
+++ b/src/common/iconv.hh
@@ -4,24 +4,19 @@
 #ifndef __ICONV_HH_INCLUDED__
 #define __ICONV_HH_INCLUDED__
 
-#include <QTextCodec>
+#include <QString>
 
 #include "wstring.hh"
 #include "ex.hh"
 
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
-  #include <iconv.h>
-#endif
+#include <iconv.h>
 
-/// A wrapper for the iconv() character set conversion functions
+
+/// "Internationalization conversion" for char encoding conversion, currently implemented with iconv()
+/// Only supports converting from a known "from" to UTF8
 class Iconv
 {
-#ifdef USE_ICONV
   iconv_t state;
-#else
-  QTextCodec * codec;
-
-#endif
 
 public:
 
@@ -34,7 +29,7 @@ public:
   static char const * const Utf16Le;
   static char const * const Utf8;
 
-  Iconv( char const * from );
+  explicit Iconv( char const * from );
 
   ~Iconv();
 
@@ -49,11 +44,8 @@ public:
 
   static QString toQString( char const * fromEncoding, void const * fromData, size_t dataSize );
 
-private:
-
-  // Copying/assigning not supported
-  Iconv( Iconv const & );
-  Iconv & operator=( Iconv const & );
+  // Copying/assigning isn't supported
+  Q_DISABLE_COPY_MOVE( Iconv );
 };
 
 #endif