diff --git a/packager/CMakeLists.txt b/packager/CMakeLists.txt
index 1381bb65e1..42a6cec21c 100644
--- a/packager/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/packager/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -170,8 +170,6 @@ add_executable(packager
   app/stream_descriptor.h
   app/validate_flag.cc
   app/validate_flag.h
-  app/vlog_flags.cc
-  app/vlog_flags.h
   app/widevine_encryption_flags.cc
   app/widevine_encryption_flags.h
 )
@@ -190,8 +188,6 @@ target_link_libraries(packager
 add_executable(mpd_generator
   app/mpd_generator.cc
   app/mpd_generator_flags.h
-  app/vlog_flags.cc
-  app/vlog_flags.h
 )
 target_link_libraries(mpd_generator
   absl::flags
diff --git a/packager/app/mpd_generator.cc b/packager/app/mpd_generator.cc
index 757a62c4f2..ee9de0f810 100644
--- a/packager/app/mpd_generator.cc
+++ b/packager/app/mpd_generator.cc
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 #include <absl/strings/str_split.h>
 
 #include <packager/app/mpd_generator_flags.h>
-#include <packager/app/vlog_flags.h>
 #include <packager/mpd/util/mpd_writer.h>
 #include <packager/tools/license_notice.h>
 #include <packager/version/version.h>
@@ -124,8 +123,6 @@ int MpdMain(int argc, char** argv) {
     return status;
   }
 
-  handle_vlog_flags();
-
   absl::InitializeLog();
 
   if (!absl::GetFlag(FLAGS_test_packager_version).empty())
diff --git a/packager/app/packager_main.cc b/packager/app/packager_main.cc
index 9e12798d60..99ad69e84c 100644
--- a/packager/app/packager_main.cc
+++ b/packager/app/packager_main.cc
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 #include <packager/app/raw_key_encryption_flags.h>
 #include <packager/app/retired_flags.h>
 #include <packager/app/stream_descriptor.h>
-#include <packager/app/vlog_flags.h>
 #include <packager/app/widevine_encryption_flags.h>
 #include <packager/file.h>
 #include <packager/kv_pairs/kv_pairs.h>
@@ -564,8 +563,6 @@ int PackagerMain(int argc, char** argv) {
     absl::SetMinLogLevel(absl::LogSeverityAtLeast::kWarning);
   }
 
-  handle_vlog_flags();
-
   absl::InitializeLog();
 
   if (!ValidateWidevineCryptoFlags() || !ValidateRawKeyCryptoFlags() ||
diff --git a/packager/app/vlog_flags.cc b/packager/app/vlog_flags.cc
deleted file mode 100644
index fe1b82b966..0000000000
--- a/packager/app/vlog_flags.cc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,72 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2015 Google LLC. All rights reserved.
-//
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file or at
-// https://developers.google.com/open-source/licenses/bsd
-//
-// Defines verbose logging flags.
-
-#include <packager/app/vlog_flags.h>
-
-#include <absl/log/globals.h>
-#include <absl/log/log.h>
-#include <absl/strings/numbers.h>
-
-#include <packager/kv_pairs/kv_pairs.h>
-#include <packager/macros/logging.h>
-
-ABSL_FLAG(int,
-          v,
-          0,
-          "Show all VLOG(m) or DVLOG(m) messages for m <= this. "
-          "Overridable by --vmodule.");
-
-ABSL_FLAG(
-    std::string,
-    vmodule,
-    "",
-    "Per-module verbose level. THIS FLAG IS DEPRECATED. "
-    "Argument is a comma-separated list of <module name>=<log level>. "
-    "The logging system no longer supports different levels for different "
-    "modules, so the verbosity level will be set to the maximum specified for "
-    "any module or given by --v.");
-
-ABSL_DECLARE_FLAG(int, minloglevel);
-
-namespace shaka {
-
-void handle_vlog_flags() {
-  // Reference the log level flag to keep the absl::log flags from getting
-  // stripped from the executable.
-  int log_level = absl::GetFlag(FLAGS_minloglevel);
-  (void)log_level;
-
-  int vlog_level = absl::GetFlag(FLAGS_v);
-  std::string vmodule_patterns = absl::GetFlag(FLAGS_vmodule);
-
-  if (!vmodule_patterns.empty()) {
-    std::vector<KVPair> patterns =
-        SplitStringIntoKeyValuePairs(vmodule_patterns, '=', ',');
-    int pattern_vlevel;
-    bool warning_shown = false;
-
-    for (const auto& pattern : patterns) {
-      if (!warning_shown) {
-        LOG(WARNING) << "--vmodule ignored, combined with --v!";
-        warning_shown = true;
-      }
-
-      if (!::absl::SimpleAtoi(pattern.second, &pattern_vlevel)) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Error parsing log level for '" << pattern.first
-                   << "' from '" << pattern.second << "'";
-        continue;
-      }
-    }
-  }
-
-  if (vlog_level != 0) {
-    absl::SetMinLogLevel(static_cast<absl::LogSeverityAtLeast>(-vlog_level));
-  }
-}
-
-}  // namespace shaka
diff --git a/packager/app/vlog_flags.h b/packager/app/vlog_flags.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 59365bdf1c..0000000000
--- a/packager/app/vlog_flags.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2015 Google LLC. All rights reserved.
-//
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file or at
-// https://developers.google.com/open-source/licenses/bsd
-
-#ifndef APP_VLOG_FLAGS_H_
-#define APP_VLOG_FLAGS_H_
-
-#include <absl/flags/declare.h>
-#include <absl/flags/flag.h>
-
-namespace shaka {
-void handle_vlog_flags();
-}
-
-#endif  // APP_VLOG_FLAGS_H_
diff --git a/packager/macros/logging.h b/packager/macros/logging.h
index 00be3041b4..ebec01bf46 100644
--- a/packager/macros/logging.h
+++ b/packager/macros/logging.h
@@ -14,20 +14,4 @@
 /// You can use the insertion operator to add specific logs to this.
 #define NOTIMPLEMENTED() LOG(ERROR) << "NOTIMPLEMENTED: "
 
-#define VLOG(verboselevel) \
-  LOG(LEVEL(static_cast<absl::LogSeverity>(-verboselevel)))
-
-#define VLOG_IS_ON(verboselevel) \
-  (static_cast<int>(absl::MinLogLevel()) <= -verboselevel)
-
-#ifndef NDEBUG
-#define DVLOG(verboselevel) VLOG(verboselevel)
-#else
-// We need this expression to work with << after it, so this is a simple way to
-// turn DVLOG into a no-op in release builds.
-#define DVLOG(verboselevel) \
-  if (false)                \
-  VLOG(verboselevel)
-#endif
-
 #endif  // PACKAGER_MACROS_LOGGING_H_
diff --git a/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt b/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
index e3bdc48859..b13a168386 100644
--- a/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,5 +13,8 @@ set(ABSL_PROPAGATE_CXX_STD ON)
 # for one in the system.
 set(ABSL_USE_EXTERNAL_GOOGLETEST ON)
 
+# Disable internal debugging features.
+add_definitions(-DNDEBUG)
+
 # With these set in scope of this folder, load the library's own CMakeLists.txt.
 add_subdirectory(source)
diff --git a/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/source b/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/source
index c2435f8342..4a2c63365e 160000
--- a/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/source
+++ b/packager/third_party/abseil-cpp/source
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit c2435f8342c2d0ed8101cb43adfd605fdc52dca2
+Subproject commit 4a2c63365eff8823a5221db86ef490e828306f9d
diff --git a/packager/third_party/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt b/packager/third_party/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
index 1fd52d4b9f..0e7e4d511b 100644
--- a/packager/third_party/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/packager/third_party/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ set(ABSL_ROOT_DIR get_filename_component(ABSOLUTE_PATH ../abseil-cpp/source ABSO
 # Make sure protoc links against the same MSVC runtime as internal libs.
 set(protobuf_MSVC_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF)
 
-# Disable internal debugging features, which end up triggering further compiler
-# errors.
+# Disable internal debugging features.
 add_definitions(-DNDEBUG)
 
 # With these set in scope of this folder, load the library's own CMakeLists.txt.
diff --git a/packager/third_party/protobuf/source b/packager/third_party/protobuf/source
index 2c5fa078d8..a9b006bddd 160000
--- a/packager/third_party/protobuf/source
+++ b/packager/third_party/protobuf/source
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 2c5fa078d8e86e5f4bd34e6f4c9ea9e8d7d4d44a
+Subproject commit a9b006bddd52e289029f16aa77b77e8e0033d9ee