diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d69dbf8..cd944ab 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 This project comprises a collection of scripts to build a modern GNUstep toolchain for x64 or arm64 architectures using the Visual Studio toolchain and LLVM/Clang. The toolchain supports Objective-C 2.0 features like blocks and Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) and can be used to integrate Objective-C code in any native Windows app — including Visual Studio projects — using LLVM/Clang (without using MinGW).
 
+The toolchain supports Windows 10 version 1903 or later.
+
 
 ## Libraries
 
@@ -19,7 +21,6 @@ The toolchain consists of the following libraries:
 - [libxml2](https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2)
 - [libxslt](https://github.com/GNOME/libxslt)
 - [libcurl](https://github.com/curl/curl)
-- [ICU](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/intl/international-components-for-unicode--icu-) (using system-provided DLL on Windows 10 version 1903 or later)
 
 
 ## Installation
diff --git a/patches/opt-libxml2-windows-icu.patch b/patches/libxml2-windows-icu.patch
similarity index 100%
rename from patches/opt-libxml2-windows-icu.patch
rename to patches/libxml2-windows-icu.patch
diff --git a/phases/15-icu.bat b/phases/15-icu.bat
deleted file mode 100644
index 9b8fe38..0000000
--- a/phases/15-icu.bat
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,91 +0,0 @@
-@echo off
-setlocal
-
-set GITHUB_REPO=unicode-org/icu
-
-call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" loadenv || exit /b 1
-
-:: determine whether we can use the Windows-provided ICU
-:: (requires Windows 10 version 1903 / build 18362 or later)
-for /f "tokens=4-6 delims=. " %%i in ('ver') do (
-  set WIN_VERSION=%%i
-  set WIN_BUILD=%%k
-)
-if %WIN_VERSION% GTR 10 (
-  :: Windows 11 or later
-  set SKIP_ICU=1
-) else if %WIN_VERSION% EQU 10 (
-  if %WIN_BUILD% GEQ 18362 (
-    :: Windows 10 version 1903 / build 18362 or later
-    set SKIP_ICU=1
-  )
-)
-if defined SKIP_ICU (
-  echo Using system-provided ICU DLL ^(requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later^)
-  exit /b 0
-)
-
-:: get the latest release tag from GitHub
-cd %~dp0
-if not defined ICU_VERSION (
-  for /f "usebackq delims=" %%i in (`call %BASH% '../scripts/get-latest-github-release-tag.sh %GITHUB_REPO% release-'`) do (
-    for /f "tokens=2,3 delims=-" %%j in ("%%i") do (
-      set ICU_VERSION=%%j.%%k
-    )
-  )
-)
-if not defined ICU_VERSION (
-  echo Error getting latest ICU release
-  exit /b 1
-)
-echo Using ICU %ICU_VERSION%
-
-:: build download URL
-if "%ARCH%" == "x86" set ICU_ARCH=Win32
-if "%ARCH%" == "x64" set ICU_ARCH=Win64
-set ICU_RELEASE_URL=https://github.com/%GITHUB_REPO%/releases/download/release-%ICU_VERSION:.=-%/icu4c-%ICU_VERSION:.=_%-%ICU_ARCH%-MSVC2019.zip
-
-for %%a in ("%ICU_RELEASE_URL%") do (
-   set ICU_RELEASE_FILE=%%~nxa
-)
-set ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER=%CACHE_ROOT%\icu
-
-if not exist "%CACHE_ROOT%" (mkdir "%CACHE_ROOT%" || exit /b 1)
-cd "%CACHE_ROOT%" || exit /b 1
-
-if not exist %ICU_RELEASE_FILE% (
-  echo.
-  echo ### Downloading release
-  curl -L -O# %ICU_RELEASE_URL% || exit /b 1
-)
-
-if exist "%ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER%" (rmdir /S /Q "%ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER%" || exit 1)
-
-echo.
-echo ### Extracting release
-powershell Expand-Archive -DestinationPath "%ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER%" "%ICU_RELEASE_FILE%" || exit /b 1
-
-:: sometimes ICU releases just contain another ZIP file, so we need to extract that
-for /D %%d in ("%ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER%\*ICU*") do (
-  for /F %%f in ("%%~d\*.zip") do (
-    echo.
-    echo ### Extracting nested release %%~nxf
-    powershell Expand-Archive -DestinationPath "%ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER%" "%%f" || exit /b 1
-  )
-)
-
-echo.
-echo ### Installing
-cd %ICU_RELEASE_FOLDER% || exit /b 1
-pushd bin* || exit /b 1
-xcopy /Y /F "icu*.dll" "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\bin\" || exit /b 1
-popd
-pushd lib* || exit /b 1
-xcopy /Y /F "icu*.lib" "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\lib\" || exit /b 1
-popd
-xcopy /Y /F /S "include\*" "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\include\" || exit /b 1
-
-:: write pkgconfig files
-call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" write_pkgconfig icu-i18n %ICU_VERSION% "" -licuin "" icu-uc || exit /b 1
-call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" write_pkgconfig icu-io %ICU_VERSION% "" -licuio "" icu-i18n || exit /b 1
-call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" write_pkgconfig icu-uc %ICU_VERSION% "" "-licuuc -licudt" || exit /b 1
diff --git a/phases/16-libxml2.bat b/phases/16-libxml2.bat
index 2134bc5..cf34f93 100644
--- a/phases/16-libxml2.bat
+++ b/phases/16-libxml2.bat
@@ -14,16 +14,6 @@ for /f "usebackq delims=" %%i in (`call %BASH% '../scripts/get-latest-github-rel
 call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" prepare_project || exit /b 1
 
 cd "%SRCROOT%\%PROJECT%" || exit \b 1
-
-:: check which ICU libraries to link
-if exist "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\lib\icuin.lib" (
-  set "LIBS_PRIVATE=-licuin -licuuc -licudt"
-) else (
-  echo Using system-provided ICU DLL ^(requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later^)
-  git apply "%ROOT_DIR%\patches\opt-libxml2-windows-icu.patch" || exit /b 1
-  set "LIBS_PRIVATE=-licu"
-)
-
 cd "win32" || exit /b 1
 
 echo.
@@ -55,4 +45,4 @@ xcopy /Y /F "bin.msvc\libxml2_a.lib" "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\lib\xml2.lib*" || exit /b
 xcopy /Y /F "%SRCROOT%\%PROJECT%\include\libxml\*.h" "%INSTALL_PREFIX%\include\libxml\" || exit /b 1
 
 :: write pkgconfig file
-call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" write_pkgconfig libxml-2.0 %TAG% -DLIBXML_STATIC -lxml2 "%LIBS_PRIVATE%" || exit /b 1
+call "%~dp0\..\scripts\common.bat" write_pkgconfig libxml-2.0 %TAG% -DLIBXML_STATIC -lxml2 -licu || exit /b 1