diff --git a/arch/arc/include/asm/setup.h b/arch/arc/include/asm/setup.h
index e10f8cef56a8efcaaaf1ff77190ed8125b2d3e1a..6e3ef5ba4f74adca5d4fd1ed78440579166b4b64 100644
--- a/arch/arc/include/asm/setup.h
+++ b/arch/arc/include/asm/setup.h
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ struct cpuinfo_data {
 };
 
 extern int root_mountflags, end_mem;
-extern int running_on_hw;
 
 void setup_processor(void);
 void __init setup_arch_memory(void);
diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
index 4d2481bd8b98dc9e1017b953afafcdf3379c3c27..b0e8666fdccc755ac11763a3bf0b6594f4ed628a 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/head.S
@@ -91,16 +91,6 @@ stext:
 	st	r0, [@uboot_tag]
 	st	r2, [@uboot_arg]
 
-	; Identify if running on ISS vs Silicon
-	; 	IDENTITY Reg [ 3  2  1  0 ]
-	;	(chip-id)      ^^^^^		==> 0xffff for ISS
-	lr	r0, [identity]
-	lsr	r3, r0, 16
-	cmp	r3, 0xffff
-	mov.z	r4, 0
-	mov.nz	r4, 1
-	st	r4, [@running_on_hw]
-
 	; setup "current" tsk and optionally cache it in dedicated r25
 	mov	r9, @init_task
 	SET_CURR_TASK_ON_CPU  r9, r0	; r9 = tsk, r0 = scratch
diff --git a/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c b/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
index 686e3fae4420699f7f5b9345cad9ccad240f910b..8fccf0328ad0754744718a0cd9ac546d341d0412 100644
--- a/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
+++ b/arch/arc/kernel/setup.c
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@
 
 #define FIX_PTR(x)  __asm__ __volatile__(";" : "+r"(x))
 
-int running_on_hw = 1;	/* vs. on ISS */
-
 /* Part of U-boot ABI: see head.S */
 int __initdata uboot_tag;
 char __initdata *uboot_arg;