diff --git a/tools/building.py b/tools/building.py
index 5fded4a2562a8..eec4524eb4531 100644
--- a/tools/building.py
+++ b/tools/building.py
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ def link_to_object(linker_inputs, target):
   # other otherwise for linking of bitcode we must use our python
   # code (necessary for asm.js, for wasm bitcode see
   # https://bugs.llvm.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40654)
-  if Settings.WASM_BACKEND and not Settings.LTO:
+  if not Settings.LTO:
     link_lld(linker_inputs + ['--relocatable'], target)
   else:
     link(linker_inputs, target)
@@ -743,13 +743,6 @@ def llvm_opt(filename, opts, out=None):
     assert out, 'must provide out if llvm_opt on a list of inputs'
   assert len(opts), 'should not call opt with nothing to do'
   opts = opts[:]
-  # TODO: disable inlining when needed
-  # if not can_inline():
-  #   opts.append('-disable-inlining')
-  # opts += ['-debug-pass=Arguments']
-  # TODO: move vectorization logic to clang/LLVM?
-  if not Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    opts += ['-disable-loop-vectorization', '-disable-slp-vectorization', '-vectorize-loops=false', '-vectorize-slp=false']
 
   target = out or (filename + '.opt.bc')
   cmd = [LLVM_OPT] + inputs + opts + ['-o', target]
@@ -868,19 +861,6 @@ def is_wasm_only():
   if not Settings.WASM:
     return False
   # llvm backend can only ever produce wasm
-  if Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    return True
-  # fastcomp can emit wasm-only code.
-  # also disable this mode if it depends on special optimizations that are not yet
-  # compatible with it.
-  if not Settings.LEGALIZE_JS_FFI:
-    # the user has requested no legalization for JS, and so we are not
-    # emitting code compatible with JS, and there is no reason not to
-    # be wasm-only, regardless of everything else
-    return True
-  if Settings.RUNNING_JS_OPTS:
-    # if the JS optimizer runs, it must run on valid asm.js
-    return False
   return True
 
 
@@ -962,14 +942,14 @@ def acorn_optimizer(filename, passes, extra_info=None, return_output=False):
 # evals ctors. if binaryen_bin is provided, it is the dir of the binaryen tool
 # for this, and we are in wasm mode
 def eval_ctors(js_file, binary_file, binaryen_bin='', debug_info=False):
-  if Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    logger.debug('Ctor evalling in the wasm backend is disabled due to https://github.com/emscripten-core/emscripten/issues/9527')
-    return
-  cmd = [PYTHON, path_from_root('tools', 'ctor_evaller.py'), js_file, binary_file, str(Settings.INITIAL_MEMORY), str(Settings.TOTAL_STACK), str(Settings.GLOBAL_BASE), binaryen_bin, str(int(debug_info))]
-  if binaryen_bin:
-    cmd += get_binaryen_feature_flags()
-  print_compiler_stage(cmd)
-  check_call(cmd)
+  logger.debug('Ctor evalling in the wasm backend is disabled due to https://github.com/emscripten-core/emscripten/issues/9527')
+  return
+  # TODO re-enable
+  # cmd = [PYTHON, path_from_root('tools', 'ctor_evaller.py'), js_file, binary_file, str(Settings.INITIAL_MEMORY), str(Settings.TOTAL_STACK), str(Settings.GLOBAL_BASE), binaryen_bin, str(int(debug_info))]
+  # if binaryen_bin:
+  #   cmd += get_binaryen_feature_flags()
+  # print_compiler_stage(cmd)
+  # check_call(cmd)
 
 
 def calculate_reachable_functions(infile, initial_list, can_reach=True):
@@ -1235,8 +1215,7 @@ def metadce(js_file, wasm_file, minify_whitespace, debug_info):
     if 'export' in item:
       export = item['export']
       # wasm backend's exports are prefixed differently inside the wasm
-      if Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-        export = asmjs_mangle(export)
+      export = asmjs_mangle(export)
       if export in user_requested_exports or Settings.EXPORT_ALL:
         item['root'] = True
   # in standalone wasm, always export the memory
@@ -1266,12 +1245,11 @@ def metadce(js_file, wasm_file, minify_whitespace, debug_info):
   for item in graph:
     if 'import' in item and item['import'][1][1:] in WASI_IMPORTS:
       item['import'][0] = Settings.WASI_MODULE_NAME
-  if Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    # wasm backend's imports are prefixed differently inside the wasm
-    for item in graph:
-      if 'import' in item:
-        if item['import'][1][0] == '_':
-          item['import'][1] = item['import'][1][1:]
+  # fixup wasm backend prefixing
+  for item in graph:
+    if 'import' in item:
+      if item['import'][1][0] == '_':
+        item['import'][1] = item['import'][1][1:]
   # map import names from wasm to JS, using the actual name the wasm uses for the import
   import_name_map = {}
   for item in graph:
@@ -1579,9 +1557,6 @@ def path_to_system_js_libraries(library_name):
 
   elif library_name.endswith('.js') and os.path.isfile(path_from_root('src', 'library_' + library_name)):
     library_files += ['library_' + library_name]
-  elif not Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    # The wasm backend will report these when wasm-ld runs
-    exit_with_error('emcc: cannot find library "%s"', library_name)
 
   return library_files
 
diff --git a/tools/cache.py b/tools/cache.py
index 6b267f4cf03ec..cb3699c2335c6 100644
--- a/tools/cache.py
+++ b/tools/cache.py
@@ -32,14 +32,11 @@ def __init__(self, dirname, use_subdir=True):
 
     # if relevant, use a subdir of the cache
     if use_subdir:
-      if shared.Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-        subdir = 'wasm'
-        if shared.Settings.LTO:
-          subdir += '-lto'
-        if shared.Settings.RELOCATABLE:
-          subdir += '-pic'
-      else:
-        subdir = 'asmjs'
+      subdir = 'wasm'
+      if shared.Settings.LTO:
+        subdir += '-lto'
+      if shared.Settings.RELOCATABLE:
+        subdir += '-pic'
       dirname = os.path.join(dirname, subdir)
 
     self.dirname = dirname
diff --git a/tools/ctor_evaller.py b/tools/ctor_evaller.py
index c4398a4b74bcc..ceeebddbd7f45 100755
--- a/tools/ctor_evaller.py
+++ b/tools/ctor_evaller.py
@@ -61,9 +61,8 @@ def find_ctors_data(js, num):
   ctors_text = js[ctors_start:ctors_end]
   all_ctors = [ctor for ctor in ctors_text.split(' ') if ctor.endswith('()') and not ctor == 'function()' and '.' not in ctor]
   all_ctors = [ctor.replace('()', '') for ctor in all_ctors]
-  if shared.Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    assert all(ctor.startswith('_') for ctor in all_ctors)
-    all_ctors = [ctor[1:] for ctor in all_ctors]
+  assert all(ctor.startswith('_') for ctor in all_ctors)
+  all_ctors = [ctor[1:] for ctor in all_ctors]
   assert len(all_ctors)
   ctors = all_ctors[:num]
   return ctors_start, ctors_end, all_ctors, ctors
diff --git a/tools/gen_struct_info.py b/tools/gen_struct_info.py
index fdfbc48fb9fbe..3cdcded9bac56 100755
--- a/tools/gen_struct_info.py
+++ b/tools/gen_struct_info.py
@@ -408,9 +408,6 @@ def inspect_code(headers, cpp_opts, structs, defines):
   # TODO(sbc): Remove this one we remove the test_em_config_env_var test
   cmd += ['-Wno-deprecated']
 
-  if not shared.Settings.WASM_BACKEND:
-    # Avoid the binaryen dependency if we are only using fastcomp
-    cmd += ['-s', 'WASM=0', '-Wno-fastcomp']
   if shared.Settings.LTO:
     cmd += ['-flto=' + shared.Settings.LTO]