diff --git a/autodoc.pl b/autodoc.pl
index e36df49b68..0853d2aa53 100644
--- a/autodoc.pl
+++ b/autodoc.pl
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ my $item_flags_re = qr/[dD fF mM nN oO pT uU Wx;]/xx;
 
 # This is a copy of the list in regen/embed.pl.
 my @have_compatibility_macros = qw(
-                                    croak
                                     deb
                                     die
                                     form
diff --git a/embed.fnc b/embed.fnc
index f1a1094103..32cf046308 100644
--- a/embed.fnc
+++ b/embed.fnc
@@ -922,7 +922,7 @@ px	|void	|create_eval_scope					\
 				|NN SV **sp				\
 				|U32 flags
 : croak()'s first parm can be NULL.  Otherwise, mod_perl breaks.
-Adfpr	|void	|croak		|NULLOK const char *pat 		\
+AMdfpr	|void	|croak		|NULLOK const char *pat 		\
 				|...
 Tfpr	|void	|croak_caller	|NULLOK const char *pat 		\
 				|...
diff --git a/embed.h b/embed.h
index bef2e7b7fa..72aef7aa81 100644
--- a/embed.h
+++ b/embed.h
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 
 #if !defined(MULTIPLICITY)
 /* undefined symbols, point them back at the usual ones */
-# define Perl_croak_nocontext                   Perl_croak
 # define Perl_deb_nocontext                     Perl_deb
 # define Perl_die_nocontext                     Perl_die
 # define Perl_form_nocontext                    Perl_form
@@ -78,7 +77,6 @@
 
 #   if  defined(MULTIPLICITY) && !defined(PERL_NO_SHORT_NAMES) && \
        !defined(PERL_WANT_VARARGS)
-#     define croak                              Perl_croak_nocontext
 #     define deb                                Perl_deb_nocontext
 #     define die                                Perl_die_nocontext
 #     define form                               Perl_form_nocontext
@@ -914,7 +912,6 @@
 # endif /* defined(MULTIPLICITY) */
 # if !defined(MULTIPLICITY) || defined(PERL_CORE) || \
       defined(PERL_WANT_VARARGS)
-#   define croak(...)                           Perl_croak(aTHX_ __VA_ARGS__)
 #   define deb(...)                             Perl_deb(aTHX_ __VA_ARGS__)
 #   define die(...)                             Perl_die(aTHX_ __VA_ARGS__)
 #   define form(...)                            Perl_form(aTHX_ __VA_ARGS__)
diff --git a/regen/embed.pl b/regen/embed.pl
index 706a181609..5fbce07114 100755
--- a/regen/embed.pl
+++ b/regen/embed.pl
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ BEGIN {
 # N.B. If you change this list, update the copy in autodoc.pl.  This is likely
 # to never happen, so not worth coding automatic synchronization.
 my @have_compatibility_macros = qw(
-                                    croak
                                     deb
                                     die
                                     form
diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index 6712433f35..982a318011 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -1912,10 +1912,9 @@ error message from arguments.  If you want to throw a non-string object,
 or build an error message in an SV yourself, it is preferable to use
 the C<L</croak_sv>> function, which does not involve clobbering C<ERRSV>.
 
-The two forms differ only in that C<croak_nocontext> does not take a thread
-context (C<aTHX>) parameter.  It is usually preferred as it takes up fewer
-bytes of code than plain C<Perl_croak>, and time is rarely a critical resource
-when you are about to throw an exception.
+The reasons for the existence of C<croak_nocontext> are no longer applicable.
+croak() can now be used in all circumstances.  C<Perl_croak_nocontext> might be
+useful when compiling with C<PERL_NO_SHORT_NAMES>.
 
 =cut
 */
diff --git a/util.h b/util.h
index 4be411fbe3..c935d967e8 100644
--- a/util.h
+++ b/util.h
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@
 #ifndef PERL_UTIL_H_
 #define PERL_UTIL_H_
 
+/*  Calling Perl_croak_nocontext instead of plain Perl_croak is one less
+ *  argument to pass under threads, so each instance takes up fewer bytes (but
+ *  the nocontext function has to derive the thread context itself, taking more
+ *  time).  We trade time for less space here, because time is rarely a
+ *  critical resource when you are about to throw an exception. */
+#define croak(...)  Perl_croak_nocontext(__VA_ARGS__)
+#ifndef MULTIPLICITY
+#  define Perl_croak_nocontext  Perl_croak
+#endif
 
 #ifdef VMS
 #  define PERL_FILE_IS_ABSOLUTE(f) \