diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
index c3bee8f0f0..45705f8186 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/smpdtfmt.cpp
@@ -1900,26 +1900,7 @@ SimpleDateFormat::parse(const UnicodeString& text, Calendar& cal, ParsePosition&
                 int32_t s = subParse(text, pos, ch, count,
                                FALSE, TRUE, ambiguousYear, saveHebrewMonth, *workCal, i);
 
-                if (s == -pos-1) {
-                    // era not present, in special cases allow this to continue
-                    s++;
-
-                    if (i+1 < fPattern.length()) {
-                        // move to next pattern character
-                        UChar ch = fPattern.charAt(i+1);
-                        
-                        // check for whitespace
-                        if (uprv_isRuleWhiteSpace(ch)) {
-                            i++;
-                            // Advance over run in pattern
-                            while ((i+1)<fPattern.length() &&
-                                   uprv_isRuleWhiteSpace(fPattern.charAt(i+1))) {
-                                ++i;
-                            }
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
-                else if (s < 0) {
+                if (s < 0) {
                     status = U_PARSE_ERROR;
                     goto ExitParse;
                 }
@@ -2369,7 +2350,6 @@ int32_t SimpleDateFormat::subParse(const UnicodeString& text, int32_t& start, UC
     Formattable number;
     int32_t value = 0;
     int32_t i;
-    int32_t ps = 0;
     ParsePosition pos(0);
     UDateFormatField patternCharIndex;
     NumberFormat *currentNumberFormat;
@@ -2464,10 +2444,7 @@ int32_t SimpleDateFormat::subParse(const UnicodeString& text, int32_t& start, UC
             return matchString(text, start, UCAL_ERA, fSymbols->fEraNames, fSymbols->fEraNamesCount, cal);
         }
 
-        ps = matchString(text, start, UCAL_ERA, fSymbols->fEras, fSymbols->fErasCount, cal);
-        if (ps == -start) 
-            ps--;
-        return ps;
+        return matchString(text, start, UCAL_ERA, fSymbols->fEras, fSymbols->fErasCount, cal);
 
     case UDAT_YEAR_FIELD:
         // If there are 3 or more YEAR pattern characters, this indicates
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.cpp b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.cpp
index 23bc77ad1b..e179b80258 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.cpp
@@ -79,10 +79,9 @@ void DateFormatTest::runIndexedTest( int32_t index, UBool exec, const char* &nam
         TESTCASE(39,Test6726);
         TESTCASE(40,TestGMTParsing);
         TESTCASE(41,Test6880);
-        TESTCASE(42,Test4917);
         /*
-        TESTCASE(43,TestRelativeError);
-        TESTCASE(44,TestRelativeOther);
+        TESTCASE(42,TestRelativeError);
+        TESTCASE(43,TestRelativeOther);
         */
         default: name = ""; break;
     }
@@ -3343,50 +3342,6 @@ void DateFormatTest::Test6880() {
     delete fmt;
 }
 
-void DateFormatTest::Test4917() {
-  
-    const char* data[] = {
-    // input, output
-    "BC 4004-10-23T07:00:00Z", "BC 4004-10-23T07:00:00Z",
-    "AD 4004-10-23T07:00:00Z", "AD 4004-10-23T07:00:00Z",
-    "-4004-10-23T07:00:00Z"  , "BC 4005-10-23T07:00:00Z",
-    "4004-10-23T07:00:00Z"   , "AD 4004-10-23T07:00:00Z",
-    };
-
-    int32_t numData = 8;
-
-    UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
-
-    // create formatter
-    SimpleDateFormat *fmt1 = new SimpleDateFormat(UnicodeString("GGG yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z"), status);
-    failure(status, "new SimpleDateFormat");
-
-    for(int i=0; i < numData; i+=2) {
-
-        // create input string
-        UnicodeString in = data[i];
-
-        // parse string to date
-        UDate dt1 = fmt1->parse(in, status);
-        failure(status, "fmt->parse");
-
-        // format date back to string
-        UnicodeString out;
-        out = fmt1->format(dt1, out);
-        logln(out);
-
-        // check that roundtrip worked as expected
-        UnicodeString expected = data[i+1];
-        if (out != expected) {
-            errln((UnicodeString)"FAIL: " + in + " -> " + out + " expected -> " + expected);
-        }
-
-    }
-
-    delete fmt1;
-
-}
-
 #endif /* #if !UCONFIG_NO_FORMATTING */
 
 //eof
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.h b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.h
index 3b7dce7962..87226fe8d8 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/dtfmttst.h
@@ -167,7 +167,6 @@ public: // package
 
     void Test6880(void);
 
-    void Test4917(void);
 public:
     /**
      * Test host-specific formatting.