diff --git a/bin/compile b/bin/compile
index 4678b547ba3649c07e7cac27669f8340ead1bdb5..2c470c3ea9a4ff22c984c4a2a12f6c9013ff3247 100755
--- a/bin/compile
+++ b/bin/compile
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ set -e
 source $BIN_DIR/steps/pylibmc
 
 # Install Mercurial if it appears to be required.
-if (in-req "hg+" requirements.txt) then
+if (grep -Fiq "hg+" requirements.txt) then
   pip install --use-mirrors mercurial | cleanup | indent
 fi
 
diff --git a/bin/steps/pylibmc b/bin/steps/pylibmc
index 949142a144e82e14d11073d6f9726259e0e8d627..fa7c45f48ef64223a345c1c99b4f219dfbc3a90d 100755
--- a/bin/steps/pylibmc
+++ b/bin/steps/pylibmc
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ VENDORED_MEMCACHED="http://cl.ly/0a191R3K160t1w1P0N25/vendor-libmemcached.tar.gz
 source $BIN_DIR/utils
 
 # If pylibmc exists within requirements, use vendored libmemcached.
-if (in-req "pylibmc" requirements.txt) then
+if (grep -Fiq "pylibmc" requirements.txt) then
   echo "-----> Noticed pylibmc. Bootstrapping libmemcached."
   cd .heroku
 
diff --git a/bin/utils b/bin/utils
index c3eef8aaaeac5ad4e1419a18593ddee5727fdda1..d849e0c7ea94ae5b13594e45d11302998b210d9e 100755
--- a/bin/utils
+++ b/bin/utils
@@ -52,25 +52,3 @@ function deep-mv (){
   rm -fr $1/!(tmp)
   find -H $1 -maxdepth 1 -name '.*' -a \( -type d -o -type f -o -type l \) -exec rm -fr '{}' \;
 }
-
-# Recursively finds requirements.txt files
-function list-req (){
-  echo $@
-  for req in $(grep -Fie "-r " $@ | sed 's/-r //g')
-    do
-      path="$(dirname $@)/$req"
-      list-req $path
-    done
-}
-
-# Find pattern in requirements files recursively
-# Usage: $ in-req pattern file
-function in-req (){
-  for file in $(list-req $2)
-    do
-      if (grep -Fiqe "$1" "$file") then
-        return 0
-      fi
-    done
-  return 1
-}