diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 9dc03619..9dcec1ff 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ addons:
 
 script:
   - ./configure
-  - make download-test-databases
   - make test
 
 notifications:
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 80cbac4f..4e16ff40 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ case $PWD in ( *["$IFS"]* )
 esac
 
 subdirs="util compat lib parse-time-string completion doc emacs"
-subdirs="${subdirs} performance-test test test/test-databases"
+subdirs="${subdirs} performance-test test"
 subdirs="${subdirs} bindings"
 
 # For a non-srcdir configure invocation (such as ../configure), create
diff --git a/devel/gen-testdb.sh b/devel/gen-testdb.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 61ae48a3..00000000
--- a/devel/gen-testdb.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,131 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-#
-# NAME
-#	gen-testdb.sh - generate test databases
-#
-# SYNOPSIS
-#	gen-testdb.sh -v NOTMUCH-VERSION [-c CORPUS-PATH] [-s TAR-SUFFIX]
-#
-# DESCRIPTION
-#	Generate a tarball containing the specified test corpus and
-#	the corresponding notmuch database, indexed using a specific
-#	version of notmuch, resulting in a specific version of the
-#	database.
-#
-#	The specific version of notmuch will be built on the fly.
-#	Therefore the script must be run within a git repository to be
-#	able to build the old versions of notmuch.
-#
-#	This script reuses the test infrastructure, and the script
-#	must be run from within the test directory.
-#
-#	The output tarballs, named database-<TAR-SUFFIX>.tar.gz, are
-#	placed in the test/test-databases directory.
-#
-# OPTIONS
-#	-v NOTMUCH-VERSION
-#		Notmuch version in terms of a git tag or commit to use
-#		for generating the database. Required.
-#
-#	-c CORPUS-PATH
-#		Path to a corpus to use for generating the
-#		database. Due to CWD changes within the test
-#		infrastructure, use absolute paths. Defaults to the
-#		test corpus.
-#
-#	-s TAR-SUFFIX
-#		Suffix for the tarball basename. Empty by default.
-#
-# EXAMPLE
-#
-#	Generate a database indexed with notmuch 0.17. Use the default
-#	test corpus. Name the tarball database-v1.tar.gz to reflect
-#	the fact that notmuch 0.17 used database version 1.
-#
-#	$ cd test
-#	$ ../devel/gen-testdb.sh -v 0.17 -s v1
-#
-# CAVEATS
-#	Test infrastructure options won't work.
-#
-#	Any existing databases with the same name will be overwritten.
-#
-#	It may not be possible to build old versions of notmuch with
-#	the set of dependencies that satisfy building the current
-#	version of notmuch.
-#
-# AUTHOR
-#	Jani Nikula <jani@nikula.org>
-#
-# LICENSE
-#	Same as notmuch test infrastructure (GPLv2+).
-#
-
-test_description="database generation abusing test infrastructure"
-
-# immediate exit on subtest failure; see test_failure_ in test-lib.sh
-immediate=t
-
-VERSION=
-CORPUS=
-SUFFIX=
-
-while getopts v:c:s: opt; do
-    case "$opt" in
-	v) VERSION="$OPTARG";;
-	c) CORPUS="$OPTARG";;
-	s) SUFFIX="-$OPTARG";;
-    esac
-done
-shift `expr $OPTIND - 1`
-
-. ./test-lib.sh || exit 1
-
-SHORT_CORPUS=$(basename ${CORPUS:-database})
-DBNAME=${SHORT_CORPUS}${SUFFIX}
-TARBALLNAME=${DBNAME}.tar.xz
-
-CORPUS=${CORPUS:-${TEST_DIRECTORY}/corpus}
-
-test_expect_code 0 "notmuch version specified on the command line" \
-    "test -n ${VERSION}"
-
-test_expect_code 0 "the specified version ${VERSION} refers to a commit" \
-    "git show ${VERSION} >/dev/null 2>&1"
-
-BUILD_DIR="notmuch-${VERSION}"
-test_expect_code 0 "generate snapshot of notmuch version ${VERSION}" \
-    "git -C $TEST_DIRECTORY/.. archive --prefix=${BUILD_DIR}/ --format=tar ${VERSION} | tar x"
-
-# force version string
-git describe --match '[0-9.]*' ${VERSION} > ${BUILD_DIR}/version
-
-test_expect_code 0 "configure and build notmuch version ${VERSION}" \
-    "make -C ${BUILD_DIR}"
-
-# use the newly built notmuch
-export PATH=./${BUILD_DIR}:$PATH
-
-test_begin_subtest "verify the newly built notmuch version"
-test_expect_equal "`notmuch --version`" "notmuch `cat ${BUILD_DIR}/version`"
-
-# replace the existing mails, if any, with the specified corpus
-rm -rf ${MAIL_DIR}
-cp -a ${CORPUS} ${MAIL_DIR}
-
-test_expect_code 0 "index the corpus" \
-    "notmuch new"
-
-# wrap the resulting mail store and database in a tarball
-
-cp -a ${MAIL_DIR} ${TMP_DIRECTORY}/${DBNAME}
-tar Jcf ${TMP_DIRECTORY}/${TARBALLNAME} -C ${TMP_DIRECTORY} ${DBNAME}
-mkdir -p  ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/test-databases
-cp -a ${TMP_DIRECTORY}/${TARBALLNAME} ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/test-databases
-test_expect_code 0 "create the output tarball ${TARBALLNAME}" \
-    "test -f ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/test-databases/${TARBALLNAME}"
-
-# generate a checksum file
-test_expect_code 0 "compute checksum" \
-    "(cd ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/test-databases/ && sha256sum ${TARBALLNAME} > ${TARBALLNAME}.sha256)"
-test_done
diff --git a/test/T530-upgrade.sh b/test/T530-upgrade.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 2124dde2..00000000
--- a/test/T530-upgrade.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,136 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-test_description="database upgrade"
-
-. $(dirname "$0")/test-lib.sh || exit 1
-
-dbtarball=database-v1.tar.xz
-
-# XXX: Accomplish the same with test lib helpers
-if [ ! -e ${TEST_DIRECTORY}/test-databases/${dbtarball} ]; then
-    test_subtest_missing_external_prereq_["${dbtarball} - fetch with 'make download-test-databases'"]=t
-fi
-
-test_begin_subtest "database checksum"
-test_expect_success \
-    '( cd $TEST_DIRECTORY/test-databases &&
-       sha256sum --quiet --check --status ${dbtarball}.sha256 )'
-
-tar xf $TEST_DIRECTORY/test-databases/${dbtarball} -C ${MAIL_DIR} --strip-components=1
-
-test_begin_subtest "folder: search does not work with old database version"
-output=$(notmuch search folder:foo)
-test_expect_equal "$output" ""
-
-test_begin_subtest "path: search does not work with old database version"
-output=$(notmuch search path:foo)
-test_expect_equal "$output" ""
-
-test_begin_subtest "pre upgrade dump"
-test_expect_success 'notmuch dump | sort > pre-upgrade-dump'
-
-test_begin_subtest "database upgrade from format version 1"
-output=$(notmuch new | sed -e 's/^Backing up tags to .*$/Backing up tags to FILENAME/')
-test_expect_equal "$output" "\
-Welcome to a new version of notmuch! Your database will now be upgraded.
-This process is safe to interrupt.
-Backing up tags to FILENAME
-Your notmuch database has now been upgraded.
-No new mail."
-
-test_begin_subtest "tag backup matches pre-upgrade dump"
-gunzip -c ${MAIL_DIR}/.notmuch/dump-*.gz | sort > backup-dump
-test_expect_equal_file pre-upgrade-dump backup-dump
-
-test_begin_subtest "folder: no longer matches in the middle of path"
-output=$(notmuch search folder:baz)
-test_expect_equal "$output" ""
-
-test_begin_subtest "folder: search"
-output=$(notmuch search --output=files folder:foo | notmuch_search_files_sanitize | sort)
-test_expect_equal "$output" "MAIL_DIR/foo/06:2,
-MAIL_DIR/foo/cur/07:2,
-MAIL_DIR/foo/cur/08:2,
-MAIL_DIR/foo/new/03:2,
-MAIL_DIR/foo/new/09:2,
-MAIL_DIR/foo/new/10:2,"
-
-test_begin_subtest "top level folder: search"
-output=$(notmuch search --output=files folder:'""' | notmuch_search_files_sanitize | sort)
-# bar/18:2, is a duplicate of cur/51:2,
-test_expect_equal "$output" "MAIL_DIR/01:2,
-MAIL_DIR/02:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/18:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/29:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/30:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/31:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/32:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/33:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/34:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/35:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/36:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/37:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/38:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/39:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/40:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/41:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/42:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/43:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/44:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/45:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/46:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/47:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/48:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/49:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/50:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/51:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/52:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/53:2,
-MAIL_DIR/new/04:2,"
-
-test_begin_subtest "path: search"
-output=$(notmuch search --output=files path:"bar" | notmuch_search_files_sanitize | sort)
-# cur/51:2, is a duplicate of bar/18:2,
-test_expect_equal "$output" "MAIL_DIR/bar/17:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/18:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/51:2,"
-
-test_begin_subtest "top level path: search"
-output=$(notmuch search --output=files path:'""' | notmuch_search_files_sanitize | sort)
-test_expect_equal "$output" "MAIL_DIR/01:2,
-MAIL_DIR/02:2,"
-
-test_begin_subtest "recursive path: search"
-output=$(notmuch search --output=files path:"bar/**" | notmuch_search_files_sanitize | sort)
-# cur/51:2, is a duplicate of bar/18:2,
-test_expect_equal "$output" "MAIL_DIR/bar/17:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/18:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/05:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/23:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/24:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/cur/25:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/cur/26:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/new/27:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/baz/new/28:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/cur/19:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/cur/20:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/new/21:2,
-MAIL_DIR/bar/new/22:2,
-MAIL_DIR/cur/51:2,"
-
-test_begin_subtest "body: same as unprefixed before reindex"
-notmuch search --output=messages body:close > OUTPUT
-notmuch search --output=messages close  > EXPECTED
-test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
-
-test_begin_subtest "body: subset of unprefixed after reindex"
-notmuch reindex '*'
-notmuch search --output=messages body:close | sort > BODY
-notmuch search --output=messages close | sort > UNPREFIXED
-diff -e UNPREFIXED BODY | cut -c2- > OUTPUT
-cat <<EOF > EXPECTED
-d
-d
-EOF
-test_expect_equal_file EXPECTED OUTPUT
-
-test_done
diff --git a/test/test-databases/.gitignore b/test/test-databases/.gitignore
deleted file mode 100644
index 9452199f..00000000
--- a/test/test-databases/.gitignore
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-/*.tar.xz
diff --git a/test/test-databases/Makefile b/test/test-databases/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index b250a8be..00000000
--- a/test/test-databases/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-# See Makefile.local for the list of files to be compiled in this
-# directory.
-all:
-	$(MAKE) -C ../.. all
-
-.DEFAULT:
-	$(MAKE) -C ../.. $@
diff --git a/test/test-databases/Makefile.local b/test/test-databases/Makefile.local
deleted file mode 100644
index 7aedff70..00000000
--- a/test/test-databases/Makefile.local
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-# -*- makefile -*-
-
-TEST_DATABASE_MIRROR=https://notmuchmail.org/releases/test-databases
-
-dir := test/test-databases
-
-test_databases := $(dir)/database-v1.tar.xz
-
-%.tar.xz:
-	@exec 1>&2 ;\
-	if command -v wget >/dev/null ;\
-	then set -x; wget -nv -O $@ ${TEST_DATABASE_MIRROR}/$(notdir $@) ;\
-	elif command -v curl >/dev/null ;\
-	then set -x; curl -L -s -o $@ ${TEST_DATABASE_MIRROR}/$(notdir $@) ;\
-	else echo Cannot fetch databases, no wget nor curl available; exit 1 ;\
-	fi
-
-download-test-databases: ${test_databases}
-
-DATACLEAN := $(DATACLEAN) ${test_databases}
diff --git a/test/test-databases/database-v1.tar.xz.sha256 b/test/test-databases/database-v1.tar.xz.sha256
deleted file mode 100644
index 2cc4f965..00000000
--- a/test/test-databases/database-v1.tar.xz.sha256
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-4299e051b10e1fa7b33ea2862790a09ebfe96859681804e5251e130f800e69d2  database-v1.tar.xz