diff --git a/ament_cmake_libraries/ament_cmake_libraries-extras.cmake b/ament_cmake_libraries/ament_cmake_libraries-extras.cmake
index dcea0c68..1983b174 100644
--- a/ament_cmake_libraries/ament_cmake_libraries-extras.cmake
+++ b/ament_cmake_libraries/ament_cmake_libraries-extras.cmake
@@ -17,5 +17,3 @@
 set(AMENT_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR ":")
 
 include("${ament_cmake_libraries_DIR}/ament_libraries_deduplicate.cmake")
-include("${ament_cmake_libraries_DIR}/ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration.cmake")
-include("${ament_cmake_libraries_DIR}/ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration.cmake")
diff --git a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_deduplicate.cmake b/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_deduplicate.cmake
index ff3f8ef1..15c3368a 100644
--- a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_deduplicate.cmake
+++ b/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_deduplicate.cmake
@@ -26,13 +26,9 @@
 # @public
 #
 macro(ament_libraries_deduplicate VAR)
-  ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration(_packed ${ARGN})
-  set(_unique "")
-  foreach(_lib ${_packed})
-    # remove existing value if it exists
-    list(REMOVE_ITEM _unique ${_lib})
-    # append value to the end
-    list(APPEND _unique ${_lib})
-  endforeach()
-  ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration(${VAR} ${_unique})
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(^|;)(debug|optimized|general);(.+)" "\\2${AMENT_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}\\3" _packed "${ARGN}")
+  list(REVERSE _packed)
+  list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES _packed)
+  list(REVERSE _packed)
+  string(REGEX REPLACE "(^|;)(debug|optimized|general)${AMENT_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}(.+)" "\\2;\\3" ${VAR} "${_packed}")
 endmacro()
diff --git a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration.cmake b/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index 1593ec78..00000000
--- a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2014 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-#
-# Pack a list of libraries with optional build configuration keywords.
-#
-# Each keyword is joined with its library using a separator.
-# A packed library list can be deduplicated easily.
-#
-# :param VAR: the output variable name
-# :type VAR: string
-# :param ARGN: a list of libraries
-# :type ARGN: list of strings
-#
-macro(ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(${VAR} "")
-  set(_argn ${ARGN})
-  list(LENGTH _argn _count)
-  set(_index 0)
-  while(${_index} LESS ${_count})
-    list(GET _argn ${_index} _lib)
-    if("${_lib}" MATCHES "^(debug|optimized|general)$")
-      math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-      if(${_index} EQUAL ${_count})
-        message(FATAL_ERROR
-          "ament_libraries_pack_build_configuration() the list of libraries '${_argn}' ends with '${_lib}' "
-          "which is a build configuration keyword and must be followed by a library")
-      endif()
-      list(GET _argn ${_index} library)
-      list(APPEND ${VAR} "${_lib}${AMENT_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}${library}")
-    else()
-      list(APPEND ${VAR} "${_lib}")
-    endif()
-    math(EXPR _index "${_index} + 1")
-  endwhile()
-endmacro()
diff --git a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration.cmake b/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index 4dfc7503..00000000
--- a/ament_cmake_libraries/cmake/ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2014 Open Source Robotics Foundation, Inc.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-
-#
-# Unpack a list of libraries with optional build configuration keyword prefixes.
-#
-# Libraries prefixed with a keyword are split into the keyword and the library.
-#
-# :param VAR: the output variable name
-# :type VAR: string
-# :param ARGN: a list of libraries
-# :type ARGN: list of strings
-#
-macro(ament_libraries_unpack_build_configuration VAR)
-  set(${VAR} "")
-  foreach(_lib ${ARGN})
-    string(REGEX REPLACE "^(debug|optimized|general)${AMENT_BUILD_CONFIGURATION_KEYWORD_SEPARATOR}(.+)$" "\\1;\\2" _lib "${_lib}")
-    list(APPEND ${VAR} "${_lib}")
-  endforeach()
-endmacro()