diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/SPKG.rst b/build/pkgs/gdb/SPKG.rst
index 0716ac53fad..bd63d67763f 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/SPKG.rst
+++ b/build/pkgs/gdb/SPKG.rst
@@ -18,8 +18,3 @@ Upstream Contact
 ----------------
 
 http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/
-
-Special Update/Build Instructions
----------------------------------
-
-Current version needs makeinfo installed to build successfully.
diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/checksums.ini b/build/pkgs/gdb/checksums.ini
deleted file mode 100644
index ce68044ec98..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/checksums.ini
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-tarball=gdb-VERSION.tar.xz
-sha1=ee66294d87a109f88a459d0da5d0bb2da5135f45
-sha256=c3a441a29c7c89720b734e5a9c6289c0a06be7e0c76ef538f7bbcef389347c39
diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/dependencies b/build/pkgs/gdb/dependencies
deleted file mode 100644
index d6030116f99..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/dependencies
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-mpfr zlib ncurses | $(PYTHON) xz
-
-----------
-All lines of this file are ignored except the first.
diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/package-version.txt b/build/pkgs/gdb/package-version.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 2983cad0495..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/package-version.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-8.2
diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/spkg-install.in b/build/pkgs/gdb/spkg-install.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 1c33ff83595..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/spkg-install.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-cd src
-
-# We add -ltinfo flag to let gdb compile on some 32bit VM, see #22487.
-export LDFLAGS="${LDFLAGS} -L${SAGE_LOCAL}/lib -ltinfo"
-
-sdh_configure \
-    $SAGE_CONFIGURE_MPC \
-    $SAGE_CONFIGURE_MPFR \
-    $SAGE_CONFIGURE_GMP
-sdh_make
-sdh_make_install
diff --git a/build/pkgs/gdb/type b/build/pkgs/gdb/type
index 9839eb20815..134d9bc32d5 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/gdb/type
+++ b/build/pkgs/gdb/type
@@ -1 +1 @@
-experimental
+optional
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/SPKG.rst b/build/pkgs/valgrind/SPKG.rst
index 99a7ab96ed2..251e871a1a8 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/SPKG.rst
+++ b/build/pkgs/valgrind/SPKG.rst
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ valgrind: Memory error detector, call graph generator, runtime profiler
 Description
 -----------
 
-This is an optional spkg. It supports Linux on x86, x86-64, ppc, ppc64
-and ARM as well as Darwin (Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6) on x86 and x86-64.
-
 Valgrind is an instrumentation framework for building dynamic analysis
 tools. There are Valgrind tools that can automatically detect many
 memory management and threading bugs, and profile your programs in
@@ -18,10 +15,7 @@ branch-prediction profiler, a call-graph generating cache and
 branch-prediction profiler, and a heap profiler. It also includes three
 experimental tools: a heap/stack/global array overrun detector, a second
 heap profiler that examines how heap blocks are used, and a SimPoint
-basic block vector generator. It runs on the following platforms:
-X86/Linux, AMD64/Linux, ARM/Linux, PPC32/Linux, PPC64/Linux,
-S390X/Linux, ARM/Android (2.3.x), X86/Darwin and AMD64/Darwin (Mac OS X
-10.6 and 10.7).
+basic block vector generator.
 
 License
 -------
@@ -35,20 +29,3 @@ Upstream Contact
 
 -  http://www.valgrind.org/
 -  valgrind-user, valgrind-devel mailing lists
-
-Dependencies
-------------
-
--  None
-
-
-Special Build Instructions
---------------------------
-
--  To build on OS X, you need to use Apple's compiler. FSF GCC is
-   unsupported.
-
-Patches
-~~~~~~~
-
--  None.
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/checksums.ini b/build/pkgs/valgrind/checksums.ini
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ffe6ab866a..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/checksums.ini
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-tarball=valgrind-VERSION.tar.bz2
-sha1=182afd405b92ddb6f52c6729e848eacf4b1daf46
-sha256=037c11bfefd477cc6e9ebe8f193bb237fe397f7ce791b4a4ce3fa1c6a520baa5
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/dependencies b/build/pkgs/valgrind/dependencies
deleted file mode 100644
index 4f00de20375..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/dependencies
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-# no dependencies
-
-----------
-All lines of this file are ignored except the first.
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/package-version.txt b/build/pkgs/valgrind/package-version.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index f982feb41bd..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/package-version.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-3.14.0
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/spkg-install.in b/build/pkgs/valgrind/spkg-install.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 2aa2762a7ed..00000000000
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/spkg-install.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-cd src
-
-./configure --prefix=$SAGE_LOCAL
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo >&2 "Error configuring Valgrind"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-$MAKE
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo >&2 "Error building Valgrind"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-$MAKE install
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    echo >&2 "Error installing Valgrind"
-    exit 1
-fi
-
diff --git a/build/pkgs/valgrind/type b/build/pkgs/valgrind/type
index 9839eb20815..134d9bc32d5 100644
--- a/build/pkgs/valgrind/type
+++ b/build/pkgs/valgrind/type
@@ -1 +1 @@
-experimental
+optional