diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9770a05606..75b9642c5d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -451,14 +451,6 @@ if(HAVE_MULTIVIEW)
 endif(HAVE_MULTIVIEW)
 
 set(BOOST_COMPONENTS iostreams program_options system)
-if(WIN32)
-    set(BOOST_COMPONENTS ${BOOST_COMPONENTS} locale)
-    if(MSVC)
-        # boost-zlib is not present (nor needed) in vcpkg version of boost.
-        # there, it is part of boost-iostreams instead.
-        set(BOOST_OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS zlib)
-    endif(MSVC)
-endif(WIN32)
 
 find_package(Boost 1.70.0 CONFIG REQUIRED COMPONENTS ${BOOST_COMPONENTS} OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS ${BOOST_OPTIONAL_COMPONENTS})
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
index 57a28bed9b..ed88ac0bc4 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@ target_link_libraries(openmw-iniimporter
 )
 
 if (WIN32)
-    target_link_libraries(openmw-iniimporter
-        Boost::locale)
     INSTALL(TARGETS openmw-iniimporter RUNTIME DESTINATION ".")
 endif(WIN32)
 
diff --git a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
index ce85b2fd19..87b1821cba 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -255,7 +255,6 @@ else()
 endif()
 
 if (WIN32)
-    target_link_libraries(openmw-cs-lib Boost::locale)
     target_sources(openmw-cs PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/files/windows/openmw-cs.exe.manifest)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/components/CMakeLists.txt b/components/CMakeLists.txt
index 70b1eb90a2..0b0dd7760b 100644
--- a/components/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/components/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -614,12 +614,6 @@ endif()
 
 target_link_libraries(components ${BULLET_LIBRARIES})
 
-if (WIN32)
-    target_link_libraries(components
-    Boost::locale
-    Boost::zlib)
-endif()
-
 if (USE_QT)
     add_library(components_qt STATIC ${COMPONENT_QT_FILES} ${ESM_UI_HDR})
     target_link_libraries(components_qt components Qt::Widgets Qt::Core)
diff --git a/components/platform/file.win32.cpp b/components/platform/file.win32.cpp
index f5ef60478b..3df99e8a8f 100644
--- a/components/platform/file.win32.cpp
+++ b/components/platform/file.win32.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #include "file.hpp"
 
-#include <boost/locale.hpp>
 #include <cassert>
 #include <components/misc/windows.hpp>
 #include <stdexcept>