diff --git a/MMCore/MMCore.cpp b/MMCore/MMCore.cpp
index 22c2c2ecc..4bef95471 100644
--- a/MMCore/MMCore.cpp
+++ b/MMCore/MMCore.cpp
@@ -362,9 +362,6 @@ std::string CMMCore::getVersionInfo() const
    std::ostringstream txt;
    std::string debug;
    txt << "MMCore version " << MMCore_versionMajor << "." << MMCore_versionMinor << "." << MMCore_versionPatch;
-   #ifdef _DEBUG
-   txt << " (debug)";
-   #endif
    return txt.str();
 }
 
diff --git a/MMCore/MMCore.vcxproj b/MMCore/MMCore.vcxproj
index 3fe6c5a21..ebfdcb9ba 100644
--- a/MMCore/MMCore.vcxproj
+++ b/MMCore/MMCore.vcxproj
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     </Midl>
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>MMDEVICE_CLIENT_BUILD;NOMINMAX;WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB;_WINDOWS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>MMDEVICE_CLIENT_BUILD;NOMINMAX;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeTypeInfo>true</RuntimeTypeInfo>
       <PrecompiledHeader>
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
       <TargetEnvironment>X64</TargetEnvironment>
     </Midl>
     <ClCompile>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>MMDEVICE_CLIENT_BUILD;NOMINMAX;WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB;_WINDOWS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>MMDEVICE_CLIENT_BUILD;NOMINMAX;NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeTypeInfo>true</RuntimeTypeInfo>
       <PrecompiledHeader>
       </PrecompiledHeader>
diff --git a/MMCoreJ_wrap/MMCoreJ_wrap.vcxproj b/MMCoreJ_wrap/MMCoreJ_wrap.vcxproj
index f0128901f..54e1e1902 100644
--- a/MMCoreJ_wrap/MMCoreJ_wrap.vcxproj
+++ b/MMCoreJ_wrap/MMCoreJ_wrap.vcxproj
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(JAVA_HOME)\include\win32;$(JAVA_HOME)\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;_DEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;MMCOREJ_WRAP_EXPORTS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <BasicRuntimeChecks>EnableFastChecks</BasicRuntimeChecks>
       <RuntimeTypeInfo>true</RuntimeTypeInfo>
       <PrecompiledHeader>
@@ -73,7 +72,7 @@
     </Midl>
     <ClCompile>
       <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>$(JAVA_HOME)\include\win32;$(JAVA_HOME)\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;NDEBUG;_WINDOWS;_USRDLL;MMCOREJ_WRAP_EXPORTS;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeTypeInfo>true</RuntimeTypeInfo>
       <PrecompiledHeader>
       </PrecompiledHeader>
@@ -147,4 +146,4 @@ copy %swig_out_dir%\*.java %java_src_dir%\ &gt; NUL</Command>
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
   </ImportGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>
diff --git a/MMDevice/MMDevice-SharedRuntime.vcxproj b/MMDevice/MMDevice-SharedRuntime.vcxproj
index 8fc7e8ad2..8df751203 100644
--- a/MMDevice/MMDevice-SharedRuntime.vcxproj
+++ b/MMDevice/MMDevice-SharedRuntime.vcxproj
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <SubSystem>Windows</SubSystem>
@@ -89,4 +88,4 @@
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
   </ImportGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>
diff --git a/MMDevice/MMDevice-StaticRuntime.vcxproj b/MMDevice/MMDevice-StaticRuntime.vcxproj
index bdb2fce9a..b1317341a 100644
--- a/MMDevice/MMDevice-StaticRuntime.vcxproj
+++ b/MMDevice/MMDevice-StaticRuntime.vcxproj
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@
   <ItemDefinitionGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
     <ClCompile>
       <Optimization>Disabled</Optimization>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;_DEBUG;_LIB;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreadedDebug</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@
       <Optimization>MaxSpeed</Optimization>
       <FunctionLevelLinking>true</FunctionLevelLinking>
       <IntrinsicFunctions>true</IntrinsicFunctions>
-      <PreprocessorDefinitions>WIN32;NDEBUG;_LIB;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
+      <PreprocessorDefinitions>NDEBUG;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <RuntimeLibrary>MultiThreaded</RuntimeLibrary>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -91,4 +90,4 @@
   <Import Project="$(VCTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Cpp.targets" />
   <ImportGroup Label="ExtensionTargets">
   </ImportGroup>
-</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</Project>