diff --git a/runtime/syntax/change.vim b/runtime/syntax/change.vim
index e9bf88b..ae90f34 100644
--- a/runtime/syntax/change.vim
+++ b/runtime/syntax/change.vim
@@ -7,11 +7,8 @@
 " in the articles by Donald E. Knuth and Silvio Levy cited in "web.vim" and
 " "cweb.vim" respectively.
 
-" For version 5.x: Clear all syntax items
-" For version 6.x: Quit when a syntax file was already loaded
-if version < 600
-  syn clear
-elseif exists("b:current_syntax")
+" quit when a syntax file was already loaded
+if exists("b:current_syntax")
   finish
 endif
 
@@ -21,21 +18,13 @@
 syn region changeToMaterial start="^@y.*$"ms=e+1 end="^@z.*$"me=s-1
 
 " Define the default highlighting.
-" For version 5.7 and earlier: only when not done already
-" For version 5.8 and later: only when an item doesn't have highlighting yet
-if version >= 508 || !exists("did_change_syntax_inits")
-  if version < 508
-    let did_change_syntax_inits = 1
-    command -nargs=+ HiLink hi link <args>
-  else
-    command -nargs=+ HiLink hi def link <args>
-  endif
+" Only when an item doesn't have highlighting yet
+command -nargs=+ HiLink hi def link <args>
 
-  HiLink changeFromMaterial String
-  HiLink changeToMaterial Statement
+HiLink changeFromMaterial String
+HiLink changeToMaterial Statement
 
-  delcommand HiLink
-endif
+delcommand HiLink
 
 let b:current_syntax = "change"