diff --git a/package/exim/exim.mk b/package/exim/exim.mk
index 67dbd643e..ed309de1d 100644
--- a/package/exim/exim.mk
+++ b/package/exim/exim.mk
@@ -70,13 +70,6 @@ define EXIM_USE_DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_OPENSSL
 endef
 endif
 
-# this specific toolchain lacks libnsl
-ifeq ($(BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12),y)
-define EXIM_REMOVE_LIBNSL_FROM_MAKEFILE
-	$(SED) 's/-lnsl//g' $(@D)/OS/Makefile-Linux
-endef
-endif
-
 define EXIM_CONFIGURE_TOOLCHAIN
 	$(call exim-config-add,CC,$(TARGET_CC))
 	$(call exim-config-add,CFLAGS,$(TARGET_CFLAGS))
diff --git a/package/wvdial/Config.in b/package/wvdial/Config.in
index 14befcf80..e57f9755f 100644
--- a/package/wvdial/Config.in
+++ b/package/wvdial/Config.in
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_WVDIAL
 	bool "wvdial"
 	depends on BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # wvstreams
-	depends on !BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12 # wvstreams
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_WVSTREAMS
 	help
 	  wvdial is an intelligent Point-to-Point Protocol dialer
@@ -12,4 +11,3 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_WVDIAL
 comment "wvdial needs a toolchain w/ C++"
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU
 	depends on !BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
-	depends on !BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12
diff --git a/package/wvstreams/Config.in b/package/wvstreams/Config.in
index 0580516b3..3080dc71e 100644
--- a/package/wvstreams/Config.in
+++ b/package/wvstreams/Config.in
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_WVSTREAMS
 	bool "wvstreams"
 	depends on BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # fork()
-	# toolchain lacks program_invocation_*
-	depends on !BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_OPENSSL
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB
 	help
@@ -14,4 +12,3 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_WVSTREAMS
 comment "wvstreams needs a toolchain w/ C++"
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU
 	depends on !BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
-	depends on !BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12
diff --git a/toolchain/toolchain-external/Config.in b/toolchain/toolchain-external/Config.in
index 9433101ad..665a15b1a 100644
--- a/toolchain/toolchain-external/Config.in
+++ b/toolchain/toolchain-external/Config.in
@@ -837,6 +837,10 @@ config BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_SYNOPSYS_ARC_2014_12
 	bool "Synopsys ARC 2014.12 toolchain"
 	depends on BR2_arc
 	depends on BR2_HOSTARCH = "x86_64"
+	# does not provide IPv6, and lacks many uClibc features
+	# expected by Buildroot. The next Synopsys toolchain version
+	# should fix those problems.
+	depends on BROKEN
 	select BR2_TOOLCHAIN_EXTERNAL_UCLIBC
 	select BR2_INSTALL_LIBSTDCPP
 	select BR2_TOOLCHAIN_HAS_NATIVE_RPC