diff --git a/configure b/configure
index f9e08643e60..0c621fea419 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2243,7 +2243,6 @@ if [ "$OPT_SHADOW" = "yes" ]; then
     mkdir -p "$outpath/mkspecs"
     rm -rf "$outpath"/mkspecs/*
     ln -s "$relpath"/mkspecs/* "$outpath/mkspecs"
-    rm -f "$outpath/mkspecs/default"
 
     ShadowMkspecs()
     {
@@ -3527,6 +3526,9 @@ esac
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [ -d "$outpath/src/corelib/global" ] || mkdir -p "$outpath/src/corelib/global"
 
+shortxspec=`echo $XQMAKESPEC | sed "s,^${relpath}/mkspecs/,,"`
+shortspec=`echo $QMAKESPEC | sed "s,^${relpath}/mkspecs/,,"`
+
 cat > "$outpath/src/corelib/global/qconfig.cpp.new" <<EOF
 /* License Info */
 static const char qt_configure_licensee_str          [256 + 12] = "qt_lcnsuser=$Licensee";
@@ -3553,6 +3555,8 @@ static const char qt_configure_prefix_path_strs[][256 + 12] = {
     "qt_hpfxpath=$QT_HOST_PREFIX",
     "qt_hbinpath=$QT_HOST_BINS",
     "qt_hdatpath=$QT_HOST_DATA",
+    "qt_targspec=$shortxspec",
+    "qt_hostspec=$shortspec",
 #endif
 };
 static const char qt_configure_settings_path_str[256 + 12] = "qt_stngpath=$QT_INSTALL_SETTINGS";
@@ -3616,10 +3620,6 @@ setBootstrapVariable()
 if true; then ###[ '!' -f "$outpath/bin/qmake" ];
     echo "Creating qmake. Please wait..."
 
-    #mkspecs/default is used as a (gasp!) default mkspec so QMAKESPEC needn't be set once configured
-    rm -rf mkspecs/default mkspecs/default-host
-    ln -s `echo $XQMAKESPEC | sed "s,^${relpath}/mkspecs/,,"` mkspecs/default
-    ln -s `echo $QMAKESPEC | sed "s,^${relpath}/mkspecs/,,"` mkspecs/default-host
     mkdir -p "$outpath/qmake" || exit
     # fix makefiles
     for mkfile in GNUmakefile Makefile; do
diff --git a/qmake/library/qmakeevaluator.cpp b/qmake/library/qmakeevaluator.cpp
index f4125eca8e4..e861c8d4f60 100644
--- a/qmake/library/qmakeevaluator.cpp
+++ b/qmake/library/qmakeevaluator.cpp
@@ -1127,20 +1127,23 @@ bool QMakeEvaluator::loadSpecInternal()
         evalError(fL1S("Could not read qmake configuration file %1.").arg(spec));
         return false;
     }
-#ifdef Q_OS_UNIX
+#ifndef QT_BUILD_QMAKE
+    // Legacy support for Qt4 default specs
+#  ifdef Q_OS_UNIX
     if (m_qmakespec.endsWith(QLatin1String("/default-host"))
         || m_qmakespec.endsWith(QLatin1String("/default"))) {
         QString rspec = QFileInfo(m_qmakespec).readLink();
         if (!rspec.isEmpty())
             m_qmakespec = QDir::cleanPath(QDir(m_qmakespec).absoluteFilePath(rspec));
     }
-#else
+#  else
     // We can't resolve symlinks as they do on Unix, so configure.exe puts
     // the source of the qmake.conf at the end of the default/qmake.conf in
     // the QMAKESPEC_ORIGINAL variable.
     const ProString &orig_spec = first(ProKey("QMAKESPEC_ORIGINAL"));
     if (!orig_spec.isEmpty())
         m_qmakespec = orig_spec.toQString();
+#  endif
 #endif
     valuesRef(ProKey("QMAKESPEC")) << ProString(m_qmakespec);
     m_qmakespecName = IoUtils::fileName(m_qmakespec).toString();
@@ -1188,7 +1191,12 @@ bool QMakeEvaluator::loadSpec()
 
     updateMkspecPaths();
     if (qmakespec.isEmpty())
-        qmakespec = m_hostBuild ? QLatin1String("default-host") : QLatin1String("default");
+        qmakespec = propertyValue(ProKey(m_hostBuild ? "QMAKE_SPEC" : "QMAKE_XSPEC")).toQString();
+#ifndef QT_BUILD_QMAKE
+    // Legacy support for Qt4 qmake in Qt Creator, etc.
+    if (qmakespec.isEmpty())
+        qmakespec = QLatin1String("default-host") : QLatin1String("default");
+#endif
     if (IoUtils::isRelativePath(qmakespec)) {
         foreach (const QString &root, m_mkspecPaths) {
             QString mkspec = root + QLatin1Char('/') + qmakespec;
diff --git a/qmake/property.cpp b/qmake/property.cpp
index d9056cdb72b..f1e9ba63ac5 100644
--- a/qmake/property.cpp
+++ b/qmake/property.cpp
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ static const struct {
     { "QT_HOST_PREFIX", QLibraryInfo::HostPrefixPath, true },
     { "QT_HOST_DATA", QLibraryInfo::HostDataPath, true },
     { "QT_HOST_BINS", QLibraryInfo::HostBinariesPath, true },
+    { "QMAKE_SPEC", QLibraryInfo::HostSpecPath, true },
+    { "QMAKE_XSPEC", QLibraryInfo::TargetSpecPath, true },
 };
 
 QMakeProperty::QMakeProperty() : settings(0)
diff --git a/qtbase.pro b/qtbase.pro
index 59814d707ec..e66d9fbb28a 100644
--- a/qtbase.pro
+++ b/qtbase.pro
@@ -87,16 +87,6 @@ mkspecs.files = \
     $$OUT_PWD/mkspecs/qconfig.pri $$OUT_PWD/mkspecs/qmodule.pri $$OUT_PWD/mkspecs/qdevice.pri \
     $$files($$PWD/mkspecs/*)   # $$OUT_PWD contains only symlinks under Unix
 mkspecs.files -= $$PWD/mkspecs/modules
-!equals(OUT_PWD, $$PWD) {
-    # When shadow building, the default mkspecs only exist in the build tree.
-    mkspecs.files += $$OUT_PWD/mkspecs/default-host $$OUT_PWD/mkspecs/default
-}
-!equals(QMAKE_HOST.os, Linux):!equals(QMAKE_HOST.os, Windows) {
-    # MacOS' (and maybe other Unixes') cp command is too daft to honor -f when copying symlinks.
-    mkspecs_pre.commands = rm -f $$[QT_HOST_DATA]/mkspecs/default-host $$[QT_HOST_DATA]/mkspecs/default
-    QMAKE_EXTRA_TARGETS += mkspecs_pre
-    mkspecs.depends += mkspecs_pre
-}
 INSTALLS += mkspecs
 
 global_docs.files = $$PWD/doc/global
diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.cpp b/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.cpp
index ccf071826ab..ffdf8d0fd32 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.cpp
@@ -276,6 +276,8 @@ static const struct {
     { "HostPrefix", "" },
     { "HostBinaries", "bin" },
     { "HostData", "." },
+    { "TargetSpec", "" },
+    { "HostSpec", "" },
 #endif
 };
 
@@ -378,6 +380,12 @@ QLibraryInfo::rawLocation(LibraryLocation loc, PathGroup group)
 #endif // QT_NO_SETTINGS
     }
 
+#ifdef QT_BOOTSTRAPPED
+    // The specs need to be returned verbatim.
+    if (loc == TargetSpecPath || loc == HostSpecPath)
+        return ret;
+#endif
+
     if (!ret.isEmpty() && QDir::isRelativePath(ret)) {
         QString baseDir;
 #ifdef QT_BOOTSTRAPPED
diff --git a/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.h b/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.h
index 1d9b8092071..93b0c815625 100644
--- a/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.h
+++ b/src/corelib/global/qlibraryinfo.h
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ public:
         HostPrefixPath,
         HostBinariesPath,
         HostDataPath,
-        LastHostPath = HostDataPath,
+        TargetSpecPath,
+        HostSpecPath,
+        LastHostPath = HostSpecPath,
 #endif
         SettingsPath = 100
     };
diff --git a/tools/configure/configureapp.cpp b/tools/configure/configureapp.cpp
index 472563a7606..f26a07a4ed7 100644
--- a/tools/configure/configureapp.cpp
+++ b/tools/configure/configureapp.cpp
@@ -3074,37 +3074,6 @@ QString Configure::addDefine(QString def)
 }
 
 #if !defined(EVAL)
-bool Configure::copySpec(const char *name, const char *pfx, const QString &spec)
-{
-    // "Link" configured mkspec to default directory, but remove the old one first, if there is any
-    QString defSpec = buildPath + "/mkspecs/" + name;
-    QFileInfo defSpecInfo(defSpec);
-    if (defSpecInfo.exists()) {
-        if (!Environment::rmdir(defSpec)) {
-            cout << "Couldn't update default " << pfx << "mkspec! Are files in " << qPrintable(defSpec) << " read-only?" << endl;
-            dictionary["DONE"] = "error";
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-
-    QDir::current().mkpath(defSpec);
-    QFile qfile(defSpec + "/qmake.conf");
-    if (qfile.open(QFile::WriteOnly | QFile::Text)) {
-        QTextStream fileStream;
-        fileStream.setDevice(&qfile);
-        QString srcSpec = buildPath + "/mkspecs/" + spec; // We copied it to the build dir
-        fileStream << "QMAKESPEC_ORIGINAL = " << formatPath(srcSpec) << endl;
-        fileStream << "include($$QMAKESPEC_ORIGINAL/qmake.conf)" << endl;
-        qfile.close();
-    }
-    if (qfile.error() != QFile::NoError) {
-        cout << "Couldn't update default " << pfx << "mkspec: " << qPrintable(qfile.errorString()) << endl;
-        dictionary["DONE"] = "error";
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
 void Configure::generateConfigfiles()
 {
     QDir(buildPath).mkpath("src/corelib/global");
@@ -3510,6 +3479,11 @@ void Configure::generateHeaders()
     }
 }
 
+static QString stripPrefix(const QString &str, const QString &pfx)
+{
+    return str.startsWith(pfx) ? str.mid(pfx.length()) : str;
+}
+
 void Configure::generateQConfigCpp()
 {
     // if QT_INSTALL_* have not been specified on commandline, define them now from QT_INSTALL_PREFIX
@@ -3553,6 +3527,10 @@ void Configure::generateQConfigCpp()
     QDir(buildPath).mkpath("src/corelib/global");
     const QString outName(buildPath + "/src/corelib/global/qconfig.cpp");
 
+    QString specPfx = dictionary["QT_HOST_DATA"] + "/mkspecs/";
+    QString hostSpec = stripPrefix(dictionary["QMAKESPEC"], specPfx);
+    QString targSpec = dictionary.contains("XQMAKESPEC") ? stripPrefix(dictionary["XQMAKESPEC"], specPfx) : hostSpec;
+
     QTemporaryFile tmpFile;
     if (tmpFile.open()) {
         QTextStream tmpStream(&tmpFile);
@@ -3580,6 +3558,8 @@ void Configure::generateQConfigCpp()
                   << "    \"qt_hpfxpath=" << formatPath(dictionary["QT_HOST_PREFIX"]) << "\"," << endl
                   << "    \"qt_hbinpath=" << formatPath(dictionary["QT_HOST_BINS"]) << "\"," << endl
                   << "    \"qt_hdatpath=" << formatPath(dictionary["QT_HOST_DATA"]) << "\"," << endl
+                  << "    \"qt_targspec=" << targSpec << "\"," << endl
+                  << "    \"qt_hostspec=" << hostSpec << "\"," << endl
                   << "#endif" << endl
                   << "};" << endl;
 
@@ -3692,14 +3672,6 @@ void Configure::buildQmake()
         confFile.close();
     }
 
-    //create default mkspecs
-    QString spec = dictionary.contains("XQMAKESPEC") ? dictionary["XQMAKESPEC"] : dictionary["QMAKESPEC"];
-    if (!copySpec("default", "", spec)
-        || !copySpec("default-host", "host ", dictionary["QMAKESPEC"])) {
-        cout << "Error installing default mkspecs" << endl << endl;
-        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-    }
-
 }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/tools/configure/configureapp.h b/tools/configure/configureapp.h
index 16d0a1164f8..bfec520c39f 100644
--- a/tools/configure/configureapp.h
+++ b/tools/configure/configureapp.h
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ public:
     void generateMakefiles();
     void appendMakeItem(int inList, const QString &item);
 #if !defined(EVAL)
-    bool copySpec(const char *name, const char *pfx, const QString &spec);
     void generateConfigfiles();
     void detectArch();
     void generateQConfigPri();