diff --git a/include/boost/detail/limits.hpp b/include/boost/detail/limits.hpp
index cd5ac0dc..414ca975 100644
--- a/include/boost/detail/limits.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/detail/limits.hpp
@@ -42,26 +42,12 @@
 #include <climits>
 #include <cfloat>
 #include <boost/config.hpp>
+#include <boost/detail/endian.hpp>
 
 #ifndef BOOST_NO_CWCHAR
 #include <cwchar> // for WCHAR_MIN and WCHAR_MAX
 #endif
 
-// The macros are not named appropriately.  We don't care about integer
-// bit layout, but about floating-point NaN (etc.) bit patterns.
-#if defined(__sparc) || defined(__sparc__) \
-   || defined(_POWER) || defined(__powerpc__) \
-   || defined(__ppc__) || defined(__hppa) \
-   || defined(_MIPSEB) || defined(_POWER) \
-   || defined(__s390__)
-#define BOOST_BIG_ENDIAN
-#elif defined(__i386__) || defined(__alpha__) \
-   || defined(__ia64)  || defined(__ia64__)
-#define BOOST_LITTLE_ENDIAN
-#else
-#error The file boost/detail/limits.hpp needs to be set up for your CPU type.
-#endif
-
 namespace std {
 
 enum float_round_style {