diff --git a/cargo-afl/src/common.rs b/cargo-afl/src/common.rs
index bbb61f677..7ab7f1c6f 100644
--- a/cargo-afl/src/common.rs
+++ b/cargo-afl/src/common.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ fn xdg_dir() -> xdg::BaseDirectories {
     xdg::BaseDirectories::with_prefix(prefix).unwrap()
 }
 
-fn data_dir(base: Option<&Path>, dir_name: &str) -> PathBuf {
+fn data_dir(dir_name: &str) -> PathBuf {
     // For docs.rs builds, use OUT_DIR.
     // For other cases, use a XDG data directory.
     // It is necessary to use OUT_DIR for docs.rs builds,
@@ -16,13 +16,8 @@ fn data_dir(base: Option<&Path>, dir_name: &str) -> PathBuf {
     // The Cargo documentation recommends that build scripts
     // place their generated files at OUT_DIR too, but we
     // don't change that for now for normal builds.
-    if let Some(base) = base {
-        let path = base.join(dir_name);
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&path).unwrap();
-        path
-    } else {
-        xdg_dir().create_data_directory(dir_name).unwrap()
-    }
+    // smoelius: AFL++ is no longer built on docs.rs.
+    xdg_dir().create_data_directory(dir_name).unwrap()
 }
 
 const SHORT_COMMIT_HASH_LEN: usize = 7;
@@ -51,24 +46,24 @@ fn pkg_version() -> String {
 
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[must_use]
-pub fn afl_dir(base: Option<&Path>) -> PathBuf {
-    data_dir(base, "afl")
+pub fn afl_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    data_dir("afl")
 }
 
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[must_use]
-pub fn afl_llvm_dir(base: Option<&Path>) -> PathBuf {
-    data_dir(base, "afl-llvm")
+pub fn afl_llvm_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    data_dir("afl-llvm")
 }
 
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[must_use]
-pub fn object_file_path(base: Option<&Path>) -> PathBuf {
-    afl_llvm_dir(base).join("libafl-llvm-rt.o")
+pub fn object_file_path() -> PathBuf {
+    afl_llvm_dir().join("libafl-llvm-rt.o")
 }
 
 #[allow(dead_code)]
 #[must_use]
-pub fn archive_file_path(base: Option<&Path>) -> PathBuf {
-    afl_llvm_dir(base).join("libafl-llvm-rt.a")
+pub fn archive_file_path() -> PathBuf {
+    afl_llvm_dir().join("libafl-llvm-rt.a")
 }
diff --git a/cargo-afl/src/config.rs b/cargo-afl/src/config.rs
index 2f483b487..89caeaec3 100644
--- a/cargo-afl/src/config.rs
+++ b/cargo-afl/src/config.rs
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ pub struct Args {
 }
 
 pub fn config(args: &Args) {
-    if !args.force && common::archive_file_path(None).exists() {
+    if !args.force && common::archive_file_path().exists() {
         let version = common::afl_rustc_version();
         eprintln!(
             "AFL LLVM runtime was already built for Rust {version}; run `cargo \
@@ -68,20 +68,20 @@ pub fn config(args: &Args) {
 
     let work_dir = tempdir.path();
 
-    build_afl(args, work_dir, None);
-    build_afl_llvm_runtime(args, work_dir, None);
+    build_afl(args, work_dir);
+    build_afl_llvm_runtime(args, work_dir);
 
     if args.plugins {
-        copy_afl_llvm_plugins(args, work_dir, None);
+        copy_afl_llvm_plugins(args, work_dir);
     }
 
     eprintln!(
         "Artifacts written to {}",
-        common::afl_dir(None).parent().unwrap().display()
+        common::afl_dir().parent().unwrap().display()
     );
 }
 
-fn build_afl(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
+fn build_afl(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path) {
     // if you had already installed cargo-afl previously you **must** clean AFL++
     // smoelius: AFL++ is now copied to a temporary directory before being built. So `make clean`
     // is no longer necessary.
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ fn build_afl(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
         .arg("install")
         // skip the checks for the legacy x86 afl-gcc compiler
         .env("AFL_NO_X86", "1")
-        .env("DESTDIR", common::afl_dir(base))
+        .env("DESTDIR", common::afl_dir())
         .env("PREFIX", "")
         .env_remove("DEBUG");
 
@@ -113,18 +113,18 @@ fn build_afl(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
     assert!(status.success());
 }
 
-fn build_afl_llvm_runtime(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
+fn build_afl_llvm_runtime(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path) {
     std::fs::copy(
         work_dir.join("afl-compiler-rt.o"),
-        common::object_file_path(base),
+        common::object_file_path(),
     )
     .expect("Couldn't copy object file");
 
     let mut command = Command::new(AR_CMD);
     command
         .arg("r")
-        .arg(common::archive_file_path(base))
-        .arg(common::object_file_path(base));
+        .arg(common::archive_file_path())
+        .arg(common::object_file_path());
 
     if !args.verbose {
         command.stdout(Stdio::null());
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ fn build_afl_llvm_runtime(args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
     assert!(status.success());
 }
 
-fn copy_afl_llvm_plugins(_args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
+fn copy_afl_llvm_plugins(_args: &Args, work_dir: &Path) {
     // Iterate over the files in the directory.
     for result in work_dir.read_dir().unwrap() {
         let entry = result.unwrap();
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ fn copy_afl_llvm_plugins(_args: &Args, work_dir: &Path, base: Option<&Path>) {
             // Attempt to copy the shared object file.
             std::fs::copy(
                 work_dir.join(&file_name),
-                common::afl_llvm_dir(base).join(&file_name),
+                common::afl_llvm_dir().join(&file_name),
             )
             .unwrap_or_else(|error| {
                 panic!("Couldn't copy shared object file {file_name:?}: {error}")
diff --git a/cargo-afl/src/main.rs b/cargo-afl/src/main.rs
index 2f12033a4..23ae16e51 100644
--- a/cargo-afl/src/main.rs
+++ b/cargo-afl/src/main.rs
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ fn main() {
     };
 
     if !matches!(afl_args.subcmd, Some(AflSubcommand::Config(..)))
-        && !common::archive_file_path(None).exists()
+        && !common::archive_file_path().exists()
     {
         let version = common::afl_rustc_version();
         eprintln!(
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ where
     S: AsRef<OsStr>,
 {
     let no_sudo = env::var("NO_SUDO").is_ok();
-    let cmd_path = common::afl_dir(None).join("bin").join(tool);
+    let cmd_path = common::afl_dir().join("bin").join(tool);
     let mut cmd = if !no_sudo && tool == "afl-system-config" {
         let mut cmd = Command::new("sudo");
         cmd.args([OsStr::new("--reset-timestamp"), cmd_path.as_os_str()]);
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ where
     // `-C codegen-units=1` is needed to work around link errors
     // https://github.com/rust-fuzz/afl.rs/pull/193#issuecomment-933550430
 
-    let binding = common::afl_llvm_dir(None);
+    let binding = common::afl_llvm_dir();
     let p = binding.display();
 
     let mut rustflags = format!(
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ where
     rustflags.push_str(&format!(
         "-l afl-llvm-rt \
          -L {} ",
-        common::afl_llvm_dir(None).display()
+        common::afl_llvm_dir().display()
     ));
 
     // add user provided flags
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ fn is_nightly() -> bool {
 }
 
 fn plugins_available() -> bool {
-    let afl_llvm_dir = common::afl_llvm_dir(None);
+    let afl_llvm_dir = common::afl_llvm_dir();
     for result in afl_llvm_dir.read_dir().unwrap() {
         let entry = result.unwrap();
         let file_name = entry.file_name();