diff --git a/src/bin/cargo/commands/install.rs b/src/bin/cargo/commands/install.rs
index f5af6435618..f0c65515d2f 100644
--- a/src/bin/cargo/commands/install.rs
+++ b/src/bin/cargo/commands/install.rs
@@ -74,9 +74,6 @@ continuous integration systems.",
 pub fn exec(config: &mut Config, args: &ArgMatches) -> CliResult {
     let mut compile_opts = args.compile_options(config, CompileMode::Build)?;
     compile_opts.build_config.release = !args.is_present("debug");
-    // We override target architecture to host architecture since it may be
-    // set to some other architecture in .cargo/config.
-    compile_opts.build_config.requested_target = None;
 
     let krates = args.values_of("crate")
         .unwrap_or_default()
diff --git a/tests/testsuite/install.rs b/tests/testsuite/install.rs
index 78df8638c50..0559c570440 100644
--- a/tests/testsuite/install.rs
+++ b/tests/testsuite/install.rs
@@ -1606,35 +1606,3 @@ fn git_repo_replace() {
             .contains(&format!("{}", new_rev))
     );
 }
-
-#[test]
-fn install_with_non_existent_target() {
-    pkg("bar", "0.0.1");
-
-    let p = project("foo")
-        .file(
-            "Cargo.toml",
-            r#"
-            [package]
-            name = "foo"
-            version = "0.1.0"
-            authors = []
-        "#,
-        )
-        .file(
-            ".cargo/config",
-            r#"
-            [build]
-            target = "non-existing-target"
-        "#,
-        )
-        .file("src/main.rs", "fn main() {}")
-        .build();
-
-    assert_that(
-        cargo_process("install").arg("bar").cwd(p.root()),
-        execs().with_status(0),
-    );
-    assert_that(cargo_home(), has_installed_exe("bar"));
-}
-