diff --git a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
index f9042f368a7..670939e417f 100644
--- a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
@@ -4807,14 +4807,7 @@ QString QgisApp::crsAndFormatAdjustedLayerUri( const QString &uri, const QString
 
 static QStringList splitSubLayerDef( const QString &subLayerDef )
 {
-  QStringList elements = subLayerDef.split( QgsDataProvider::SUBLAYER_SEPARATOR );
-  // merge back parts of the name that may have been split
-  while ( elements.size() > 5 )
-  {
-    elements[1] += ":" + elements[2];
-    elements.removeAt( 2 );
-  }
-  return elements;
+  return subLayerDef.split( QgsDataProvider::SUBLAYER_SEPARATOR );
 }
 
 static void setupVectorLayer( const QString &vectorLayerPath,