diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES b/RELEASE-NOTES
index 01a5c4ddae..c529d818a0 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ The following variables are obsoleted in 2.0
   \use_personal_dictionary and \use_spell_lib (ispell support has been
   removed)
 
+- \spellchecker_use_alt_lang (actually not used by the UI, it is as
+  simple to check whether the relevant variable is empty)
+
 - \custom_export_command and \custom_export_format
 
 
diff --git a/src/Buffer.cpp b/src/Buffer.cpp
index 1e526fa9da..481a7c6ab4 100644
--- a/src/Buffer.cpp
+++ b/src/Buffer.cpp
@@ -3401,9 +3401,9 @@ int Buffer::spellCheck(DocIterator & from, DocIterator & to,
 	docstring word;
 	while (nextWord(from, to, word)) {
 		++progress;
-		string lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_use_alt_lang
-		      ? lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang
-		      : from.paragraph().getFontSettings(params(), from.pos()).language()->code();
+		string const lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang.empty()
+			? from.paragraph().getFontSettings(params(), from.pos()).language()->code()
+			: lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang;
 		WordLangTuple wl(word, lang_code);
 		res = speller->check(wl);
 		// ... just bail out if the spellchecker reports an error.
diff --git a/src/LyXRC.cpp b/src/LyXRC.cpp
index 81b3fd6d28..b2654eecb3 100644
--- a/src/LyXRC.cpp
+++ b/src/LyXRC.cpp
@@ -270,7 +270,6 @@ void LyXRC::setDefaults()
 	display_graphics = true;
 	// Spellchecker settings:
 	spellchecker_accept_compound = false;
-	spellchecker_use_alt_lang = false;
 	spellchecker_use_esc_chars = false;
 	spellcheck_continuously = false;
 	use_kbmap = false;
@@ -875,9 +874,6 @@ int LyXRC::read(Lexer & lexrc)
 		case RC_ACCEPT_COMPOUND:
 			lexrc >> spellchecker_accept_compound;
 			break;
-		case RC_USE_ALT_LANG:
-			lexrc >> spellchecker_use_alt_lang;
-			break;
 		case RC_USE_TOOLTIP:
 			lexrc >> use_tooltip;
 			break;
@@ -1121,6 +1117,7 @@ int LyXRC::read(Lexer & lexrc)
 		case RC_SPELL_COMMAND:
 		case RC_PERS_DICT:
 		case RC_PLAINTEXT_ROFF_COMMAND: 
+		case RC_USE_ALT_LANG:
 		case RC_USE_INP_ENC:
 		case RC_USE_PERS_DICT:
 		case RC_USE_SPELL_LIB:
@@ -2194,11 +2191,7 @@ void LyXRC::write(ostream & os, bool ignore_system_lyxrc, string const & name) c
 		if (tag != RC_LAST)
 			break;
 	case RC_USE_ALT_LANG:
-		if (ignore_system_lyxrc ||
-		    spellchecker_use_alt_lang != system_lyxrc.spellchecker_use_alt_lang) {
-			os << "\\use_alt_language " << convert<string>(spellchecker_use_alt_lang)
-			   << '\n';
-		}
+		// Obsoleted in 2.0
 		if (tag != RC_LAST)
 			break;
 	case RC_ALT_LANG:
diff --git a/src/LyXRC.h b/src/LyXRC.h
index 2f87d023de..dbdf1ed2d9 100644
--- a/src/LyXRC.h
+++ b/src/LyXRC.h
@@ -324,8 +324,6 @@ public:
 	unsigned int plaintext_linelen;
 	/// Accept compound words in spellchecker?
 	bool spellchecker_accept_compound;
-	/// Use alternate language?
-	bool spellchecker_use_alt_lang;
 	/// Use tooltips?
 	bool use_tooltip;
 	/// Use pixmap cache?
diff --git a/src/Paragraph.cpp b/src/Paragraph.cpp
index 74d22f5ce3..6330454383 100644
--- a/src/Paragraph.cpp
+++ b/src/Paragraph.cpp
@@ -3048,9 +3048,9 @@ void Paragraph::collectWords()
 		if (!lyxrc.spellcheck_continuously || !speller)
 			continue;
 		
-		string lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_use_alt_lang
-		      ? lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang
-		      : getFontSettings(d->inset_owner_->buffer().params(), from).language()->code();
+		string const lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang.empty()
+			? getFontSettings(d->inset_owner_->buffer().params(), from).language()->code()
+			: lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang;
 		WordLangTuple wl(word, lang_code);
 		SpellChecker::Result res = speller->check(wl);
 		// ... just ignore any error that the spellchecker reports.
@@ -3093,9 +3093,9 @@ bool Paragraph::isMisspelled(pos_type pos) const
 	if (!speller)
 		return false;
 		
-	string lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_use_alt_lang
-	      ? lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang
-	      : getFontSettings(d->inset_owner_->buffer().params(), from).language()->code();
+	string const lang_code = lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang.empty()
+		? getFontSettings(d->inset_owner_->buffer().params(), from).language()->code()
+		: lyxrc.spellchecker_alt_lang;
 	WordLangTuple wl(word, lang_code);
 	SpellChecker::Result res = speller->check(wl);
 	// ... just ignore any error that the spellchecker reports.
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiPrefs.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiPrefs.cpp
index 3b2034286a..11d71e2a70 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiPrefs.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiPrefs.cpp
@@ -1263,9 +1263,7 @@ PrefSpellchecker::PrefSpellchecker(GuiPreferences * form)
 
 void PrefSpellchecker::apply(LyXRC & rc) const
 {
-	// FIXME: remove spellchecker_use_alt_lang
 	rc.spellchecker_alt_lang = fromqstr(altLanguageED->text());
-	rc.spellchecker_use_alt_lang = !rc.spellchecker_alt_lang.empty();
 	// FIXME: remove spellchecker_use_esc_chars
 	rc.spellchecker_esc_chars = fromqstr(escapeCharactersED->text());
 	rc.spellchecker_use_esc_chars = !rc.spellchecker_esc_chars.empty();
@@ -1276,7 +1274,6 @@ void PrefSpellchecker::apply(LyXRC & rc) const
 
 void PrefSpellchecker::update(LyXRC const & rc)
 {
-	// FIXME: remove spellchecker_use_alt_lang
 	altLanguageED->setText(toqstr(rc.spellchecker_alt_lang));
 	// FIXME: remove spellchecker_use_esc_chars
 	escapeCharactersED->setText(toqstr(rc.spellchecker_esc_chars));