diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 85b6b6e07..3c760d08a 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -11,14 +11,22 @@ env:
   - TR_ARCH=local       CLANG=1 COMPAT_TEST=y
   - TR_ARCH=x86_64
   - TR_ARCH=x86_64      CLANG=1
-  - TR_ARCH=ppc64le
-  - TR_ARCH=s390x
-  - TR_ARCH=ppc64le     CLANG=1
   - TR_ARCH=docker-test
   - TR_ARCH=openj9-test
-
 matrix:
   include:
+    - os: linux
+      arch: ppc64le
+      env: TR_ARCH=local
+      dist: bionic
+    - os: linux
+      arch: ppc64le
+      env: TR_ARCH=local CLANG=1
+      dist: bionic
+    - os: linux
+      arch: s390x
+      env: TR_ARCH=local
+      dist: bionic
     - os: linux
       arch: arm64
       env: TR_ARCH=local
@@ -68,7 +76,6 @@ matrix:
   allow_failures:
     - env: TR_ARCH=docker-test
     - env: TR_ARCH=fedora-rawhide
-    - env: TR_ARCH=s390x
     - env: TR_ARCH=local       GCOV=1
 script:
   - sudo make CCACHE=1 -C scripts/travis $TR_ARCH
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.hdr b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.hdr
deleted file mode 100644
index c90c98088..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.hdr
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-FROM arm64v8/ubuntu:xenial
-
-COPY scripts/build/qemu-user-static/usr/bin/qemu-aarch64-static /usr/bin/qemu-aarch64-static
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.tmpl b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.tmpl
deleted file mode 120000
index cb804790e..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.aarch64.tmpl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Dockerfile.tmpl
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.hdr b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.hdr
deleted file mode 100644
index ba65901c2..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.hdr
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-FROM ppc64le/ubuntu:xenial
-
-ENV QEMU_CPU POWER8
-COPY scripts/build/qemu-user-static/usr/bin/qemu-ppc64le-static /usr/bin/qemu-ppc64le-static
-RUN sed -i '/security/ d' /etc/apt/sources.list
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.tmpl b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.tmpl
deleted file mode 120000
index cb804790e..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.ppc64le.tmpl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Dockerfile.tmpl
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.hdr b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.hdr
deleted file mode 100644
index e02097f62..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.hdr
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-FROM s390x/debian:latest
-
-ENV QEMU_CPU z900
-COPY scripts/build/qemu-user-static/usr/bin/qemu-s390x-static /usr/bin/qemu-s390x-static
-# The security repository does not seem to exist anymore
-RUN sed -i '/security/ d' /etc/apt/sources.list
diff --git a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.tmpl b/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.tmpl
deleted file mode 120000
index cb804790e..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/Dockerfile.s390x.tmpl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Dockerfile.tmpl
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/build/Makefile b/scripts/build/Makefile
index d7ad82aec..a7c78e8bd 100644
--- a/scripts/build/Makefile
+++ b/scripts/build/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
-QEMU_ARCHES := ppc64le s390x # require qemu
-ARCHES := $(QEMU_ARCHES) aarch64 x86_64 fedora-asan fedora-rawhide centos armv7hf
+ARCHES := x86_64 fedora-asan fedora-rawhide centos armv7hf
 TARGETS := $(ARCHES) alpine
 TARGETS_CLANG := $(addsuffix $(TARGETS),-clang)
 CONTAINER_RUNTIME := docker
@@ -16,15 +15,6 @@ $(foreach arch,$(ARCHES),$(eval $(call ARCH_DEP,$(arch))))
 Dockerfile.%: Dockerfile.%.hdr Dockerfile.%.tmpl
 	cat $^ > $@
 
-qemu-user-static:
-	./extract-deb-pkg qemu-user-static
-
-binfmt_misc:
-	./binfmt_misc
-.PHONY: binfmt_misc
-
-$(QEMU_ARCHES): qemu-user-static binfmt_misc
-
 $(TARGETS):
 	mkdir -p $(HOME)/.ccache
 	mv $(HOME)/.ccache ../../
@@ -42,12 +32,3 @@ $(foreach t,$(TARGETS),$(eval $(call CLANG_DEP,$(t))))
 %-clang:	DB_ENV=--build-arg ENV1=CCACHE_CPP2
 s390x-clang:	DB_CC=--build-arg CC=clang-3.8
 .PHONY: $(TARGETS_CLANG)
-
-clean:
-	rm -rf qemu-user-static
-	for ARCH in $(ARCHES); do \
-		FILE=/proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/$$ARCH; \
-		test -f $$FILE && echo -1 > $$FILE; \
-		rm -f Dockerfile.$$ARCH; \
-	done
-.PHONY: clean
diff --git a/scripts/build/binfmt_misc b/scripts/build/binfmt_misc
deleted file mode 100755
index bf2a2ecad..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/binfmt_misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-set -e -x
-
-test -f /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/armv7hf ||
-	echo ':armv7hf:M::\x7fELF\x01\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x28\x00:\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff\xff:/usr/bin/qemu-arm-static:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register;
-
-test -f /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/aarch64 ||
-	echo ':aarch64:M::\x7fELF\x02\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\xb7:\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff:/usr/bin/qemu-aarch64-static:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
-
-test -f /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/ppc64le ||
-	echo ':ppc64le:M::\x7fELF\x02\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x15\x00:\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfc\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff\x00:/usr/bin/qemu-ppc64le-static:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
-
-test -f /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/s390x ||
-	echo ':s390x:M::\x7fELF\x02\x02\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x16:\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff:/usr/bin/qemu-s390x-static:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
diff --git a/scripts/build/extract-deb-pkg b/scripts/build/extract-deb-pkg
deleted file mode 100755
index 44457bc5a..000000000
--- a/scripts/build/extract-deb-pkg
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-set -e
-set -u
-set -o pipefail
-MIRROR="https://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu"
-PKGS="$MIRROR/dists/bionic/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz"
-
-if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
-	echo "Usage: $0 package-name" 1>&2
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-if [ -d "$1" ]; then
-	echo "Directory $1 already exists -- exiting"
-	exit 0
-fi
-
-if ! pkg=$(curl -sSL "$PKGS" | zgrep "Filename.*$1" | awk '{ print $2 }'); then
-	echo "ERROR: no packages matching $1" 1>&2
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-if [ "$(wc -w <<< "$pkg")" -gt 1 ]; then
-	echo "$pkg" 1>&2
-	echo "ERROR: more than one match for $1" 1>&2
-	exit 1
-fi
-
-mkdir "$1"
-cd "$1"
-
-wget "$MIRROR/$pkg"
-pkg=$(basename "$pkg")
-ar vx "$pkg"
-tar xJvf data.tar.xz
diff --git a/scripts/travis/travis-tests b/scripts/travis/travis-tests
index 07311511c..bc97fd455 100755
--- a/scripts/travis/travis-tests
+++ b/scripts/travis/travis-tests
@@ -51,13 +51,6 @@ travis_prep () {
 		CC="ccache $CC"
 	fi
 
-	# The /etc/apt/sources.list in the current trusty image for ppc64le is
-	# broken and needs to be fixed
-	if [ "$TR_ARCH" = "ppc64le" ] ; then
-		sed -i '/security/ d' /etc/apt/sources.list
-	fi
-
-
 	# Do not install x86_64 specific packages on other architectures
 	if [ "$UNAME_M" = "x86_64" ]; then
 		TRAVIS_PKGS="$TRAVIS_PKGS $X86_64_PKGS"