diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 16187935e11a..523b3d938fb7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@ MOCKS_DIR = $(CURDIR)/tests/mocks
 HTTPS_GIT := https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk.git
 DOCKER := $(shell which docker)
 PROJECT_NAME = $(shell git remote get-url origin | xargs basename -s .git)
-# RocksDB is a native dependency, so we don't assume the library is installed.
-# Instead, it must be explicitly enabled and we warn when it is not.
-ENABLE_ROCKSDB ?= false
 
 # process build tags
 build_tags = netgo
@@ -58,35 +55,28 @@ build_tags_comma_sep := $(subst $(whitespace),$(comma),$(build_tags))
 # process linker flags
 
 ldflags = -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Name=sim \
-		  -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.AppName=simd \
-		  -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Version=$(VERSION) \
-		  -X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Commit=$(COMMIT) \
-		  -X "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.BuildTags=$(build_tags_comma_sep)" \
-			-X github.com/cometbft/cometbft/version.TMCoreSemVer=$(CMTVERSION)
-
-ifeq ($(ENABLE_ROCKSDB),true)
-  BUILD_TAGS += rocksdb_build
-  test_tags += rocksdb_build
-endif
+		-X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.AppName=simd \
+		-X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Version=$(VERSION) \
+		-X github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.Commit=$(COMMIT) \
+		-X "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version.BuildTags=$(build_tags_comma_sep)" \
+		-X github.com/cometbft/cometbft/version.TMCoreSemVer=$(CMTVERSION)
+
 
 # DB backend selection
 ifeq (cleveldb,$(findstring cleveldb,$(COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
   build_tags += gcc
 endif
 ifeq (badgerdb,$(findstring badgerdb,$(COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
-  BUILD_TAGS += badgerdb
+  build_tags += badgerdb
 endif
 # handle rocksdb
 ifeq (rocksdb,$(findstring rocksdb,$(COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
-  ifneq ($(ENABLE_ROCKSDB),true)
-    $(error Cannot use RocksDB backend unless ENABLE_ROCKSDB=true)
-  endif
   CGO_ENABLED=1
-  BUILD_TAGS += rocksdb
+  build_tags += rocksdb
 endif
 # handle boltdb
 ifeq (boltdb,$(findstring boltdb,$(COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
-  BUILD_TAGS += boltdb
+  build_tags += boltdb
 endif
 
 ifeq (,$(findstring nostrip,$(COSMOS_BUILD_OPTIONS)))