diff --git a/include/fdlist.h b/include/fdlist.h
index 0d0fea1d2..6bb03188d 100644
--- a/include/fdlist.h
+++ b/include/fdlist.h
@@ -32,18 +32,6 @@ extern int fd_fileopen(const char *path, unsigned int flags);
 #define FD_SELECT_READ		0x1
 #define FD_SELECT_WRITE		0x2
 
-/* Socket buffer sizes for clients and servers
- * Note that these have been carefully chosen so you shouldn't touch these.
- * If you make these much higher then be aware that this means you loose
- * send queue / receive queue protection, otherwise known as "Excess flood"
- * and "SendQ Exceeded", since these queues are ON TOP of UnrealIRCd's
- * own queueing mechanism, it uses the OS TCP Socket queue.
- */
-#define USER_SOCKET_RECEIVE_BUFFER	8192
-#define USER_SOCKET_SEND_BUFFER		32768
-#define SERVER_SOCKET_RECEIVE_BUFFER	131072
-#define SERVER_SOCKET_SEND_BUFFER	131072
-
 extern void fd_setselect(int fd, int flags, IOCallbackFunc iocb, void *data);
 extern void fd_select(time_t delay);		/* backend-specific */
 extern void fd_refresh(int fd);			/* backend-specific */
diff --git a/src/list.c b/src/list.c
index 26e8dfdc4..9ad77851c 100644
--- a/src/list.c
+++ b/src/list.c
@@ -244,11 +244,6 @@ Server *make_server(Client *client)
 		del_from_id_hash_table(client->id, client);
 		*client->id = '\0';
 	}
-	if (MyConnect(client) && (client->local->fd >= 0))
-	{
-		/* Give servers a large socket buffer for performance */
-		set_socket_buffers(client->local->fd, SERVER_SOCKET_RECEIVE_BUFFER, SERVER_SOCKET_SEND_BUFFER);
-	}
 	return client->serv;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/socket.c b/src/socket.c
index 4bc67676a..b256ad380 100644
--- a/src/socket.c
+++ b/src/socket.c
@@ -703,10 +703,7 @@ void set_ipv6_opts(int fd)
 }
 
 /** This sets the *OS* socket buffers.
- * Note that setting these high is not always a good idea.
- * For example for regular users we keep the receive buffer tight
- * so we detect a high receive queue (Excess Flood) properly.
- * See include/fdlist.h for more information
+ * This shouldn't be needed anymore, but I've left the function here.
  */
 void set_socket_buffers(int fd, int rcvbuf, int sndbuf)
 {
@@ -726,17 +723,24 @@ void set_sock_opts(int fd, Client *client, int ipv6)
 
 	if (ipv6)
 		set_ipv6_opts(fd);
+
 #ifdef SO_REUSEADDR
 	opt = 1;
 	if (setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (void *)&opt, sizeof(opt)) < 0)
 			report_error("setsockopt(SO_REUSEADDR) %s:%s", client);
 #endif
+
 #if defined(SO_USELOOPBACK) && !defined(_WIN32)
 	opt = 1;
 	if (setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_USELOOPBACK, (void *)&opt, sizeof(opt)) < 0)
 		report_error("setsockopt(SO_USELOOPBACK) %s:%s", client);
 #endif
-	set_socket_buffers(fd, USER_SOCKET_RECEIVE_BUFFER, USER_SOCKET_SEND_BUFFER);
+
+	/* Previously we also called set_socket_buffers() to set some
+	 * specific buffer limits. This is no longer needed on modern OS's.
+	 * Setting it explicitly actually slows things down.
+	 */
+
 	/* Set to non blocking: */
 #if !defined(_WIN32)
 	if ((opt = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL, 0)) == -1)