diff --git a/cmake/stack_direction.c b/cmake/stack_direction.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f7a5d0b135..00000000000
--- a/cmake/stack_direction.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-/*
- Copyright (c) 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
- Use is subject to license terms.
- 
- This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
-
- 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
- GNU General Public License for more details.
-
- You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
- Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1335  USA */
-
-/* Check stack direction (0-down, 1-up) */
-int f(int *a) 
-{
-  int b;
-  return(&b > a)?1:0; 
-}
-/*
- Prevent compiler optimizations by calling function 
- through pointer.
-*/
-volatile int (*ptr_f)(int *) = f;
-int main() 
-{
-  int a;
-  return ptr_f(&a);
-}
diff --git a/configure.cmake b/configure.cmake
index 475fd250329..55affd756d3 100644
--- a/configure.cmake
+++ b/configure.cmake
@@ -672,25 +672,11 @@ int main()
 }
 " HAVE_PTHREAD_YIELD_ZERO_ARG)
 
-IF(NOT STACK_DIRECTION)
-  IF(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
-   MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR 
-   "STACK_DIRECTION is not defined.  Please specify -DSTACK_DIRECTION=1 "
-   "or -DSTACK_DIRECTION=-1 when calling cmake.")
-  ELSE()
-    TRY_RUN(STACKDIR_RUN_RESULT STACKDIR_COMPILE_RESULT    
-     ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} 
-     ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/stack_direction.c
-     )
-     # Test program returns 0 (down) or 1 (up).
-     # Convert to -1 or 1
-     IF(STACKDIR_RUN_RESULT EQUAL 0)
-       SET(STACK_DIRECTION -1 CACHE INTERNAL "Stack grows direction")
-     ELSE()
-       SET(STACK_DIRECTION 1 CACHE INTERNAL "Stack grows direction")
-     ENDIF()
-     MESSAGE(STATUS "Checking stack direction : ${STACK_DIRECTION}")
-   ENDIF()
+IF(STACK_DIRECTION)
+ELSEIF(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^(parisc|hppa)")
+  SET(STACK_DIRECTION 1 CACHE INTERNAL "Stack grows direction")
+ELSE()
+  SET(STACK_DIRECTION -1 CACHE INTERNAL "Stack grows direction")
 ENDIF()
 
 #