diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/config.py
index 6a67f01d66fdcf5c6766d008cef30f2a99cc2231..de5f55775c2034d2d08d56a15ad2742e8d2dd6a8 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/config.py
@@ -179,7 +179,6 @@
     'mirrors': spack.schema.mirrors.schema,
     'repos': spack.schema.repos.schema,
     'packages': spack.schema.packages.schema,
-    'targets': spack.schema.targets.schema,
     'modules': spack.schema.modules.schema,
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/platforms/cray.py b/lib/spack/spack/platforms/cray.py
index 9138ad7afeb18daa2b5c7c097b5d9359bb7eb49d..94e2949e4ad2852d22ecb2802d8aaaf730ba8bf0 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/platforms/cray.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/platforms/cray.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os
 import re
-import spack.config
 import llnl.util.tty as tty
+from spack import build_env_path
 from spack.util.executable import which
 from spack.architecture import Platform, Target, NoPlatformError
 from spack.operating_systems.linux_distro import LinuxDistro
@@ -46,13 +46,10 @@ def __init__(self):
             self.add_target(name, Target(name, 'craype-%s' % target))
 
         # Get aliased targets from config or best guess from environment:
-        conf = spack.config.get_config('targets')
         for name in ('front_end', 'back_end'):
             _target = getattr(self, name, None)
             if _target is None:
                 _target = os.environ.get('SPACK_' + name.upper())
-            if _target is None:
-                _target = conf.get(name)
             if _target is None and name == 'back_end':
                 _target = self._default_target_from_env()
             if _target is not None:
@@ -82,7 +79,7 @@ def setup_platform_environment(cls, pkg, env):
             similar to linux/standard linker behavior
         """
         env.set('CRAYPE_LINK_TYPE', 'dynamic')
-        cray_wrapper_names = join_path(spack.build_env_path, 'cray')
+        cray_wrapper_names = join_path(build_env_path, 'cray')
         if os.path.isdir(cray_wrapper_names):
             env.prepend_path('PATH', cray_wrapper_names)
             env.prepend_path('SPACK_ENV_PATH', cray_wrapper_names)
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/schema/targets.py b/lib/spack/spack/schema/targets.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 312474cab4e986870ffaa4cd31d8873ac244657e..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/lib/spack/spack/schema/targets.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-##############################################################################
-# Copyright (c) 2013-2016, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC.
-# Produced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
-#
-# This file is part of Spack.
-# Created by Todd Gamblin, tgamblin@llnl.gov, All rights reserved.
-# LLNL-CODE-647188
-#
-# For details, see https://github.com/llnl/spack
-# Please also see the LICENSE file for our notice and the LGPL.
-#
-# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
-# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (as
-# published by the Free Software Foundation) version 2.1, February 1999.
-#
-# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
-# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
-# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the terms and
-# conditions of the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
-#
-# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
-# License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
-# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
-##############################################################################
-"""Schema for target configuration files."""
-
-
-schema = {
-    '$schema': 'http://json-schema.org/schema#',
-    'title': 'Spack target configuration file schema',
-    'type': 'object',
-    'additionalProperties': False,
-    'patternProperties': {
-        r'targets:?': {
-            'type': 'object',
-            'default': {},
-            'additionalProperties': False,
-            'patternProperties': {
-                r'\w[\w-]*': {  # target name
-                    'type': 'string',
-                },
-            },
-        },
-    },
-}