diff --git a/make/autoconf/basic.m4 b/make/autoconf/basic.m4
index 6daba35547bd6..e595dbbd00332 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/basic.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/basic.m4
@@ -194,17 +194,8 @@ AC_DEFUN([BASIC_SETUP_XCODE_SYSROOT],
     if test $? -ne 0; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([The xcodebuild tool in the devkit reports an error: $XCODEBUILD_OUTPUT])
     fi
-  elif test "x$TOOLCHAIN_PATH" != x; then
-    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(XCODEBUILD, xcodebuild, $TOOLCHAIN_PATH)
-    if test "x$XCODEBUILD" != x; then
-      XCODEBUILD_OUTPUT=`"$XCODEBUILD" -version 2>&1`
-      if test $? -ne 0; then
-        AC_MSG_WARN([Ignoring the located xcodebuild tool $XCODEBUILD due to an error: $XCODEBUILD_OUTPUT])
-        XCODEBUILD=
-      fi
-    fi
   else
-    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(XCODEBUILD, xcodebuild)
+    UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS(XCODEBUILD, xcodebuild)
     if test "x$XCODEBUILD" != x; then
       XCODEBUILD_OUTPUT=`"$XCODEBUILD" -version 2>&1`
       if test $? -ne 0; then
@@ -332,21 +323,11 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([BASIC_SETUP_DEVKIT],
 
   # You can force the sysroot if the sysroot encoded into the compiler tools
   # is not correct.
-  AC_ARG_WITH(sys-root, [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-sys-root],
-      [alias for --with-sysroot for backwards compatibility])],
-      [SYSROOT=$with_sys_root]
-  )
-
   AC_ARG_WITH(sysroot, [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-sysroot],
       [use this directory as sysroot])],
       [SYSROOT=$with_sysroot]
   )
 
-  AC_ARG_WITH([tools-dir], [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-tools-dir],
-      [alias for --with-toolchain-path for backwards compatibility])],
-      [UTIL_PREPEND_TO_PATH([TOOLCHAIN_PATH],$with_tools_dir)]
-  )
-
   AC_ARG_WITH([toolchain-path], [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-toolchain-path],
       [prepend these directories when searching for toolchain binaries (compilers etc)])],
       [UTIL_PREPEND_TO_PATH([TOOLCHAIN_PATH],$with_toolchain_path)]
@@ -355,6 +336,9 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([BASIC_SETUP_DEVKIT],
   AC_ARG_WITH([xcode-path], [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-xcode-path],
       [set up toolchain on Mac OS using a path to an Xcode installation])])
 
+  UTIL_DEPRECATED_ARG_WITH(sys-root)
+  UTIL_DEPRECATED_ARG_WITH(tools-dir)
+
   if test "x$with_xcode_path" != x; then
     if test "x$OPENJDK_BUILD_OS" = "xmacosx"; then
       UTIL_PREPEND_TO_PATH([TOOLCHAIN_PATH],
diff --git a/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4 b/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
index eceb0ae6cc44f..7cb21cebc83a6 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/basic_tools.m4
@@ -209,29 +209,14 @@ AC_DEFUN([BASIC_CHECK_GNU_MAKE],
   UTIL_SETUP_TOOL(MAKE,
   [
     # Try our hardest to locate a correct version of GNU make
-    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(CHECK_GMAKE, gmake)
+    UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS(CHECK_GMAKE, gmake)
     BASIC_CHECK_MAKE_VERSION("$CHECK_GMAKE", [gmake in PATH])
 
     if test "x$FOUND_MAKE" = x; then
-      UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(CHECK_MAKE, make)
+      UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS(CHECK_MAKE, make)
       BASIC_CHECK_MAKE_VERSION("$CHECK_MAKE", [make in PATH])
     fi
 
-    if test "x$FOUND_MAKE" = x; then
-      if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_PATH" != x; then
-        # We have a toolchain path, check that as well before giving up.
-        OLD_PATH=$PATH
-        PATH=$TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH
-        UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(CHECK_TOOLSDIR_GMAKE, gmake)
-        BASIC_CHECK_MAKE_VERSION("$CHECK_TOOLSDIR_GMAKE", [gmake in tools-dir])
-        if test "x$FOUND_MAKE" = x; then
-          UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(CHECK_TOOLSDIR_MAKE, make)
-          BASIC_CHECK_MAKE_VERSION("$CHECK_TOOLSDIR_MAKE", [make in tools-dir])
-        fi
-        PATH=$OLD_PATH
-      fi
-    fi
-
     if test "x$FOUND_MAKE" = x; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR([Cannot find GNU make $MAKE_REQUIRED_VERSION or newer! Please put it in the path, or add e.g. MAKE=/opt/gmake3.81/make as argument to configure.])
     fi
diff --git a/make/autoconf/build-performance.m4 b/make/autoconf/build-performance.m4
index 4414ea0d93c9d..5db4ded660b3d 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/build-performance.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/build-performance.m4
@@ -161,12 +161,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([BPERF_SETUP_CCACHE],
   # Check if ccache is available
   CCACHE_AVAILABLE=true
 
-  OLD_PATH="$PATH"
-  if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_PATH" != x; then
-    PATH=$TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH
-  fi
-  UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS(CCACHE, ccache)
-  PATH="$OLD_PATH"
+  UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS(CCACHE, ccache)
 
   AC_MSG_CHECKING([if ccache is available])
   if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_TYPE" != "xgcc" && test "x$TOOLCHAIN_TYPE" != "xclang"; then
diff --git a/make/autoconf/flags-ldflags.m4 b/make/autoconf/flags-ldflags.m4
index 509e0dd825f06..a12a6e7f9a60a 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/flags-ldflags.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/flags-ldflags.m4
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([FLAGS_SETUP_LDFLAGS_HELPER],
       # Clang needs the lld linker to work correctly
       BASIC_LDFLAGS="-fuse-ld=lld -Wl,--exclude-libs,ALL"
       if test "x$CXX_IS_USER_SUPPLIED" = xfalse && test "x$CC_IS_USER_SUPPLIED" = xfalse; then
-        UTIL_REQUIRE_PROGS(LLD, lld, $TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH)
+        UTIL_REQUIRE_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS(LLD, lld)
       fi
     fi
     if test "x$OPENJDK_TARGET_OS" = xaix; then
diff --git a/make/autoconf/toolchain.m4 b/make/autoconf/toolchain.m4
index 9013f9cf9221f..7319939a77687 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/toolchain.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/toolchain.m4
@@ -276,9 +276,6 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([TOOLCHAIN_PRE_DETECTION],
   ORG_CFLAGS="$CFLAGS"
   ORG_CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS"
 
-  # autoconf magic only relies on PATH, so update it if tools dir is specified
-  OLD_PATH="$PATH"
-
   if test "x$OPENJDK_BUILD_OS" = "xmacosx"; then
     if test "x$XCODEBUILD" != x; then
       XCODE_VERSION_OUTPUT=`"$XCODEBUILD" -version 2> /dev/null | $HEAD -n 1`
@@ -295,9 +292,10 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([TOOLCHAIN_PRE_DETECTION],
   fi
   AC_SUBST(TOOLCHAIN_VERSION)
 
-  # Finally prepend TOOLCHAIN_PATH to the PATH, to allow --with-tools-dir to
-  # override all other locations.
-  if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_PATH" != x; then
+  # For the microsoft toolchain the toolchain path needs to be added to the
+  # normal path, or the compiler will not work in some situations in later
+  # configure checks.
+  if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_TYPE" = "xmicrosoft" && test "x$TOOLCHAIN_PATH" != x; then
     export PATH=$TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH
   fi
 ])
@@ -305,13 +303,6 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([TOOLCHAIN_PRE_DETECTION],
 # Restore path, etc
 AC_DEFUN_ONCE([TOOLCHAIN_POST_DETECTION],
 [
-  # Restore old path, except for the microsoft toolchain, which requires the
-  # toolchain path to remain in place. Otherwise the compiler will not work in
-  # some situations in later configure checks.
-  if test "x$TOOLCHAIN_TYPE" != "xmicrosoft"; then
-    PATH="$OLD_PATH"
-  fi
-
   # Restore the flags to the user specified values.
   # This is necessary since AC_PROG_CC defaults CFLAGS to "-g -O2"
   CFLAGS="$ORG_CFLAGS"
diff --git a/make/autoconf/util_paths.m4 b/make/autoconf/util_paths.m4
index 9e3e5472c9e49..b79ae0f643fed 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/util_paths.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/util_paths.m4
@@ -443,17 +443,18 @@ AC_DEFUN([UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS],
 
 ################################################################################
 # Call UTIL_SETUP_TOOL with AC_CHECK_TOOLS to locate the tool. This will look
-# first for cross-compilation tools.
+# first for tools using the cross-compilation prefix, and then for tools without
+# this prefix. For each of these name variants, it will look first in the
+# toolchain path, and then in the normal path.
 # $1: variable to set
 # $2: executable name (or list of names) to look for
-# $3: [path]
 AC_DEFUN([UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS],
 [
   if test "x$ac_tool_prefix" = x; then
-    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS($1, $2, $3)
+    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS($1, $2, [$TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH])
   else
     prefixed_names=$(for name in $2; do echo ${ac_tool_prefix}${name} $name; done)
-    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS($1, $prefixed_names, $3)
+    UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS($1, $prefixed_names, [$TOOLCHAIN_PATH:$PATH])
   fi
 ])
 
@@ -482,10 +483,9 @@ AC_DEFUN([UTIL_REQUIRE_PROGS],
 # Like UTIL_LOOKUP_PROGS but fails if no tool was found.
 # $1: variable to set
 # $2: executable name (or list of names) to look for
-# $3: [path]
 AC_DEFUN([UTIL_REQUIRE_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS],
 [
-  UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS($1, $2, $3)
+  UTIL_LOOKUP_TOOLCHAIN_PROGS($1, $2)
   UTIL_CHECK_NONEMPTY($1)
 ])