diff --git a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
index 0a9cd18a878..0115a2d1534 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
@@ -2171,7 +2171,6 @@ void QgsProject::removeMapLayers( const QList<QgsMapLayer *> &layers )
   QStringList layerIds;
   QList<QgsMapLayer *> layerList;
 
-  bool layerOrderHasChanged = false;
   QList< QgsMapLayer * > currentOrder = layerOrder();
   Q_FOREACH ( QgsMapLayer *layer, layers )
   {
@@ -2180,7 +2179,6 @@ void QgsProject::removeMapLayers( const QList<QgsMapLayer *> &layers )
     {
       layerIds << layer->id();
       layerList << layer;
-      layerOrderHasChanged = layerOrderHasChanged || currentOrder.contains( layer );
     }
   }
 
@@ -2204,8 +2202,6 @@ void QgsProject::removeMapLayers( const QList<QgsMapLayer *> &layers )
   }
 
   emit layersRemoved( layerIds );
-  if ( layerOrderHasChanged )
-    emit layerOrderChanged();
 }
 
 void QgsProject::removeMapLayer( const QString &layerId )
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_qgsproject.py b/tests/src/python/test_qgsproject.py
index f69e5a2e03d..dcbe13030fd 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_qgsproject.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_qgsproject.py
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class TestQgsProject(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(layer_order_changed_spy), 3)
         prj.removeMapLayer(layer)
         self.assertEqual(prj.layerOrder(), [layer2, layer3])
-        self.assertEqual(len(layer_order_changed_spy), 4)
+        self.assertEqual(len(layer_order_changed_spy), 3) # should be no signal
 
         # save and restore
         file_name = os.path.join(str(QDir.tempPath()), 'proj.qgs')