diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/directives.py b/lib/spack/spack/directives.py
index 08f6ec9ba95..8f500ea7298 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/directives.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/directives.py
@@ -86,9 +86,6 @@ class OpenMpi(Package):
 PatchesType = Union[Patcher, str, List[Union[Patcher, str]]]
 
 
-SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES = ("fortran", "cxx", "c")
-
-
 def _make_when_spec(value: WhenType) -> Optional[spack.spec.Spec]:
     """Create a ``Spec`` that indicates when a directive should be applied.
 
@@ -367,9 +364,6 @@ def depends_on(
 
     """
     dep_spec = spack.spec.Spec(spec)
-    if dep_spec.name in SUPPORTED_LANGUAGES:
-        assert type == "build", "languages must be of 'build' type"
-        return _language(lang_spec_str=spec, when=when)
 
     def _execute_depends_on(pkg: Type[spack.package_base.PackageBase]):
         _depends_on(pkg, dep_spec, when=when, type=type, patches=patches)
@@ -905,21 +899,6 @@ def _execute_requires(pkg: Type[spack.package_base.PackageBase]):
     return _execute_requires
 
 
-@directive("languages")
-def _language(lang_spec_str: str, *, when: Optional[Union[str, bool]] = None):
-    """Temporary implementation of language virtuals, until compilers are proper dependencies."""
-
-    def _execute_languages(pkg: Type[spack.package_base.PackageBase]):
-        when_spec = _make_when_spec(when)
-        if not when_spec:
-            return
-
-        languages = pkg.languages.setdefault(when_spec, set())
-        languages.add(lang_spec_str)
-
-    return _execute_languages
-
-
 class DependencyError(DirectiveError):
     """This is raised when a dependency specification is invalid."""