diff --git a/gdk/x11/gdksettings.c b/gdk/x11/gdksettings.c
index f8bb6d896b..0a50da031b 100644
--- a/gdk/x11/gdksettings.c
+++ b/gdk/x11/gdksettings.c
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ static const struct {
   {"Gtk/ColorPalette",        "gtk-color-palette"},
   {"Gtk/FontName",            "gtk-font-name"},
   {"Gtk/KeyThemeName",        "gtk-key-theme-name"},
-  {"Gtk/Modules",             "gtk-modules"},
   {"Gtk/ButtonImages",        "gtk-button-images"},
   {"Gtk/MenuImages",          "gtk-menu-images"},
   {"Gtk/CursorThemeName",     "gtk-cursor-theme-name"},
diff --git a/gtk/gtkmodules.c b/gtk/gtkmodules.c
index 4db4bc2fa8..c28d6e38a5 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkmodules.c
+++ b/gtk/gtkmodules.c
@@ -387,28 +387,6 @@ load_module (GSList      *module_list,
   return module_list;
 }
 
-
-static void
-gtk_module_info_unref (GtkModuleInfo *info)
-{
-  GSList *l;
-
-  info->ref_count--;
-
-  if (info->ref_count == 0)
-    {
-      GTK_NOTE (MODULES,
-		g_message ("Unloading module: %s", g_module_name (info->module)));
-
-      gtk_modules = g_slist_remove (gtk_modules, info);
-      g_module_close (info->module);
-      for (l = info->names; l; l = l->next)
-	g_free (l->data);
-      g_slist_free (info->names);
-      g_free (info);
-    }
-}
-
 static GSList *
 load_modules (const char *module_str)
 {
@@ -469,9 +447,7 @@ static void
 display_opened_cb (GdkDisplayManager *display_manager,
 		   GdkDisplay        *display)
 {
-  GValue value = G_VALUE_INIT;
   GSList *slist;
-  GtkSettings *settings;
 
   for (slist = gtk_modules; slist; slist = slist->next)
     {
@@ -484,15 +460,6 @@ display_opened_cb (GdkDisplayManager *display_manager,
 	}
     }
 
-  g_value_init (&value, G_TYPE_STRING);
-
-  if (gdk_display_get_setting (display, "gtk-modules", &value))
-    {
-      settings = gtk_settings_get_for_display (display);
-      _gtk_modules_settings_changed (settings, g_value_get_string (&value));
-      g_value_unset (&value);
-    }
-
   /* Since closing display doesn't actually release the resources yet,
    * we have to connect to the ::closed signal.
    */
@@ -538,37 +505,6 @@ _gtk_modules_init (gint        *argc,
     }
 }
 
-static void
-settings_destroy_notify (gpointer data)
-{
-  GSList *iter, *modules = data;
-
-  for (iter = modules; iter; iter = iter->next) 
-    {
-      GtkModuleInfo *info = iter->data;
-      gtk_module_info_unref (info);
-    }
-  g_slist_free (modules);
-}
-
-void
-_gtk_modules_settings_changed (GtkSettings *settings, 
-			       const gchar *modules)
-{
-  GSList *new_modules = NULL;
-
-  GTK_NOTE (MODULES, g_message ("gtk-modules setting changed to: %s", modules));
-
-  /* load/ref before unreffing existing */
-  if (modules && modules[0])
-    new_modules = load_modules (modules);
-
-  g_object_set_data_full (G_OBJECT (settings),
-			  I_("gtk-modules"),
-			  new_modules,
-			  settings_destroy_notify);
-}
-
 /* Return TRUE if module_to_check causes version conflicts.
  * If module_to_check is NULL, check the main module.
  */
diff --git a/gtk/gtkmodulesprivate.h b/gtk/gtkmodulesprivate.h
index 11dbebfd9d..99987bb077 100644
--- a/gtk/gtkmodulesprivate.h
+++ b/gtk/gtkmodulesprivate.h
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ gchar ** _gtk_get_module_path          (const gchar  *type);
 void     _gtk_modules_init             (gint          *argc,
                                         gchar       ***argv,
                                         const gchar   *gtk_modules_args);
-void     _gtk_modules_settings_changed (GtkSettings   *settings,
-                                        const gchar   *modules);
 
 gboolean _gtk_module_has_mixed_deps    (GModule       *module);
 
diff --git a/gtk/gtksettings.c b/gtk/gtksettings.c
index 98dce9066c..67e377f1ba 100644
--- a/gtk/gtksettings.c
+++ b/gtk/gtksettings.c
@@ -22,8 +22,6 @@
 
 #include "gtksettings.h"
 
-#include "gtkmodules.h"
-#include "gtkmodulesprivate.h"
 #include "gtksettingsprivate.h"
 #include "gtkintl.h"
 #include "gtkwidget.h"
@@ -154,7 +152,6 @@ enum {
   PROP_KEY_THEME_NAME,
   PROP_DND_DRAG_THRESHOLD,
   PROP_FONT_NAME,
-  PROP_MODULES,
   PROP_XFT_ANTIALIAS,
   PROP_XFT_HINTING,
   PROP_XFT_HINTSTYLE,
@@ -212,7 +209,6 @@ static guint    settings_install_property_parser (GtkSettingsClass      *class,
                                                   GParamSpec            *pspec,
                                                   GtkRcPropertyParser    parser);
 static void    settings_update_double_click      (GtkSettings           *settings);
-static void    settings_update_modules           (GtkSettings           *settings);
 
 static void    settings_update_cursor_theme      (GtkSettings           *settings);
 static void    settings_update_font_options      (GtkSettings           *settings);
@@ -455,15 +451,6 @@ gtk_settings_class_init (GtkSettingsClass *class)
                                              NULL);
   g_assert (result == PROP_FONT_NAME);
 
-  result = settings_install_property_parser (class,
-                                             g_param_spec_string ("gtk-modules",
-                                                                  P_("GTK Modules"),
-                                                                  P_("List of currently active GTK modules"),
-                                                                  NULL,
-                                                                  GTK_PARAM_READWRITE),
-                                             NULL);
-  g_assert (result == PROP_MODULES);
-
   result = settings_install_property_parser (class,
                                              g_param_spec_int ("gtk-xft-antialias",
                                                                P_("Xft Antialias"),
@@ -1203,7 +1190,6 @@ gtk_settings_create_for_display (GdkDisplay *display)
 
   settings_init_style (settings);
   settings_update_xsettings (settings);
-  settings_update_modules (settings);
   settings_update_double_click (settings);
   settings_update_cursor_theme (settings);
   settings_update_font_options (settings);
@@ -1332,9 +1318,6 @@ gtk_settings_notify (GObject    *object,
 
   switch (property_id)
     {
-    case PROP_MODULES:
-      settings_update_modules (settings);
-      break;
     case PROP_DOUBLE_CLICK_TIME:
     case PROP_DOUBLE_CLICK_DISTANCE:
       settings_update_double_click (settings);
@@ -2055,20 +2038,6 @@ settings_update_double_click (GtkSettings *settings)
   gdk_display_set_double_click_distance (priv->display, double_click_distance);
 }
 
-static void
-settings_update_modules (GtkSettings *settings)
-{
-  gchar *modules;
-
-  g_object_get (settings,
-                "gtk-modules", &modules,
-                NULL);
-
-  _gtk_modules_settings_changed (settings, modules);
-
-  g_free (modules);
-}
-
 static void
 settings_update_cursor_theme (GtkSettings *settings)
 {