diff --git a/python/core/qgsvectordataprovider.sip b/python/core/qgsvectordataprovider.sip
index 44e0520c4ba..ef9ff79ed71 100644
--- a/python/core/qgsvectordataprovider.sip
+++ b/python/core/qgsvectordataprovider.sip
@@ -220,12 +220,6 @@ class QgsVectorDataProvider : QgsDataProvider
      */
     virtual QHash<int, QString> palAttributeIndexNames() const;
 
-    /**
-     * Set whether provider should also return features that don't have
-     * associated geometry. false by default
-     */
-    void enableGeometrylessFeatures( bool fetch );
-
     /**
      * check if provider supports type of field
      * @note added in 1.2
diff --git a/src/app/qgsattributetypeloaddialog.cpp b/src/app/qgsattributetypeloaddialog.cpp
index 37b7922c04a..0eee1652260 100644
--- a/src/app/qgsattributetypeloaddialog.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgsattributetypeloaddialog.cpp
@@ -127,9 +127,6 @@ void QgsAttributeTypeLoadDialog::createPreview( int fieldIndex, bool full )
     return;
   }
 
-  QgsVectorDataProvider* dataProvider = vLayer->dataProvider();
-  dataProvider->enableGeometrylessFeatures( true );
-
   QgsAttributeList attributeList = QgsAttributeList();
   attributeList.append( idx );
   attributeList.append( idx2 );
@@ -158,7 +155,6 @@ void QgsAttributeTypeLoadDialog::createPreview( int fieldIndex, bool full )
     previewTableWidget->setItem( row, 1, new QTableWidgetItem( mit.key() ) );
   }
 
-  dataProvider->enableGeometrylessFeatures( false );
 }
 
 QMap<QString, QVariant> &QgsAttributeTypeLoadDialog::valueMap()
@@ -178,9 +174,6 @@ void QgsAttributeTypeLoadDialog::loadDataToValueMap()
     return;
   }
 
-  QgsVectorDataProvider* dataProvider = vLayer->dataProvider();
-  dataProvider->enableGeometrylessFeatures( true );
-
   QgsAttributeList attributeList = QgsAttributeList();
   attributeList.append( idx );
   attributeList.append( idx2 );
@@ -196,7 +189,6 @@ void QgsAttributeTypeLoadDialog::loadDataToValueMap()
       mValueMap.insert( f.attribute( idx2 ).toString(), val );
     }
   }
-  dataProvider->enableGeometrylessFeatures( false );
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.cpp
index fa5a35f9a64..fbb9ea1d68b 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
 QgsVectorDataProvider::QgsVectorDataProvider( QString uri )
     : QgsDataProvider( uri )
     , mCacheMinMaxDirty( true )
-    , mFetchFeaturesWithoutGeom( true )
     , mAttrPalIndexName( QgsAttrPalIndexNameHash() )
 {
   QSettings settings;
@@ -238,11 +237,6 @@ QgsAttributeList QgsVectorDataProvider::attributeIndexes()
   return list;
 }
 
-void QgsVectorDataProvider::enableGeometrylessFeatures( bool fetch )
-{
-  mFetchFeaturesWithoutGeom = fetch;
-}
-
 const QList< QgsVectorDataProvider::NativeType > &QgsVectorDataProvider::nativeTypes() const
 {
   return mNativeTypes;
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.h b/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.h
index d219db080b2..bdd71d71170 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectordataprovider.h
@@ -279,12 +279,6 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsVectorDataProvider : public QgsDataProvider
      */
     virtual QgsAttrPalIndexNameHash palAttributeIndexNames() const { return mAttrPalIndexName; }
 
-    /**
-     * Set whether provider should also return features that don't have
-     * associated geometry. false by default
-     */
-    void enableGeometrylessFeatures( bool fetch );
-
     /**
      * check if provider supports type of field
      * @note added in 1.2
diff --git a/src/providers/ogr/qgsogrfeatureiterator.cpp b/src/providers/ogr/qgsogrfeatureiterator.cpp
index bcacf56f54d..8c46ce8be3f 100644
--- a/src/providers/ogr/qgsogrfeatureiterator.cpp
+++ b/src/providers/ogr/qgsogrfeatureiterator.cpp
@@ -101,14 +101,6 @@ bool QgsOgrFeatureIterator::nextFeature( QgsFeature& feature )
       return false;
     }
 
-    // skip features without geometry
-    if ( !OGR_F_GetGeometryRef( fet ) && !P->mFetchFeaturesWithoutGeom )
-    {
-      OGR_F_Destroy( fet );
-      close();
-      return false;
-    }
-
     readFeature( fet, feature );
 
     feature.setValid( true );
@@ -120,13 +112,6 @@ bool QgsOgrFeatureIterator::nextFeature( QgsFeature& feature )
 
   while (( fet = OGR_L_GetNextFeature( P->ogrLayer ) ) )
   {
-    // skip features without geometry
-    if ( !P->mFetchFeaturesWithoutGeom && !OGR_F_GetGeometryRef( fet ) )
-    {
-      OGR_F_Destroy( fet );
-      continue;
-    }
-
     if ( !readFeature( fet, feature ) )
       continue;