diff --git a/taglib/ebml/matroska/ebmlmatroskafile.cpp b/taglib/ebml/matroska/ebmlmatroskafile.cpp
index 4a525907..26108bcd 100644
--- a/taglib/ebml/matroska/ebmlmatroskafile.cpp
+++ b/taglib/ebml/matroska/ebmlmatroskafile.cpp
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::title() const
   if(e->title != e->document->d->tags.end())
     return e->title->first.find(Constants::TITLE)->second.front();
   else
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 }
 
 String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::artist() const
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::artist() const
   if(e->artist != e->document->d->tags.end())
     return e->artist->first.find(Constants::ARTIST)->second.front();
   else
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 }
 
 String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::album() const
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::album() const
   if(e->album != e->document->d->tags.end())
     return e->album->first.find(Constants::TITLE)->second.front();
   else
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 }
 
 PictureMap EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::pictures() const
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::comment() const
   if(e->comment != e->document->d->tags.end())
     return e->comment->first.find(Constants::COMMENT)->second.front();
   else
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 }
 
 String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::genre() const
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ String EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::genre() const
   if(e->genre != e->document->d->tags.end())
     return e->genre->first.find(Constants::GENRE)->second.front();
   else
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 }
 
 uint EBML::Matroska::File::Tag::year() const
diff --git a/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.cpp b/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.cpp
index af1f3efc..849a1672 100644
--- a/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.cpp
+++ b/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.cpp
@@ -160,18 +160,18 @@ void Ogg::XiphComment::setGenre(const String &s)
 
 void Ogg::XiphComment::setYear(uint i)
 {
-  removeField("YEAR");
+  removeFields("YEAR");
   if(i == 0)
-    removeField("DATE");
+    removeFields("DATE");
   else
     addField("DATE", String::number(i));
 }
 
 void Ogg::XiphComment::setTrack(uint i)
 {
-  removeField("TRACKNUM");
+  removeFields("TRACKNUM");
   if(i == 0)
-    removeField("TRACKNUMBER");
+    removeFields("TRACKNUMBER");
   else
     addField("TRACKNUMBER", String::number(i));
 }
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ PropertyMap Ogg::XiphComment::setProperties(const PropertyMap &properties)
       toRemove.append(it->first);
 
   for(StringList::ConstIterator it = toRemove.begin(); it != toRemove.end(); ++it)
-      removeField(*it);
+      removeFields(*it);
 
   // now go through keys in \a properties and check that the values match those in the xiph comment
   PropertyMap invalid;
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ PropertyMap Ogg::XiphComment::setProperties(const PropertyMap &properties)
       const StringList &sl = it->second;
       if(sl.isEmpty())
         // zero size string list -> remove the tag with all values
-        removeField(it->first);
+        removeFields(it->first);
       else {
         // replace all strings in the list for the tag
         StringList::ConstIterator valueIterator = sl.begin();
@@ -266,20 +266,12 @@ String Ogg::XiphComment::vendorID() const
 void Ogg::XiphComment::addField(const String &key, const String &value, bool replace)
 {
   if(replace)
-    removeField(key.upper());
+    removeFields(key.upper());
 
   if(!key.isEmpty() && !value.isEmpty())
     d->fieldListMap[key.upper()].append(value);
 }
 
-void Ogg::XiphComment::removeField(const String &key, const String &value)
-{
-  if(!value.isNull())
-    removeFields(key, value);
-  else
-    removeFields(key);
-}
-
 void Ogg::XiphComment::removeFields(const String &key)
 {
   d->fieldListMap.erase(key.upper());
diff --git a/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.h b/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.h
index d2e414fc..81b199e4 100644
--- a/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.h
+++ b/taglib/ogg/xiphcomment.h
@@ -181,15 +181,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
        */
       void addField(const String &key, const String &value, bool replace = true);
 
-      /*!
-       * Remove the field specified by \a key with the data \a value.  If
-       * \a value is null, all of the fields with the given key will be removed.
-       *
-       * \deprecated Using this method may lead to a linkage error.
-       */
-      // BIC: remove and merge with below
-      void removeField(const String &key, const String &value = String::null);
-
       /*!
        * Remove all the fields specified by \a key.
        *
diff --git a/taglib/tagunion.cpp b/taglib/tagunion.cpp
index d53e24f5..760d41ae 100644
--- a/taglib/tagunion.cpp
+++ b/taglib/tagunion.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 #define stringUnion(method)                                               \
   for(size_t j = 0; j < COUNT; ++j) {                                     \
-    String val = d->tags[j] ? d->tags[j]->method() : String::null;        \
+    String val = d->tags[j] ? d->tags[j]->method() : String();            \
     if(!val.isEmpty())                                                    \
       return val;                                                         \
   }                                                                       \
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
index d4bff7b9..09829e24 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.cpp
@@ -137,8 +137,6 @@ public:
   SHARED_PTR<std::string> cstring;
 };
 
-const String String::null;
-
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // static members
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -377,11 +375,6 @@ bool String::isEmpty() const
   return d->data->empty();
 }
 
-bool String::isNull() const
-{
-  return (d == null.d);
-}
-
 ByteVector String::data(Type t) const
 {
   switch(t)
@@ -483,7 +476,7 @@ String String::stripWhiteSpace() const
 
   const size_t pos1 = d->data->find_first_not_of(WhiteSpaceChars);
   if(pos1 == std::wstring::npos)
-    return String::null;
+    return String();
 
   const size_t pos2 = d->data->find_last_not_of(WhiteSpaceChars);
   return substr(pos1, pos2 - pos1 + 1);
diff --git a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.h b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.h
index 4fe1cbea..2ce70ed2 100644
--- a/taglib/toolkit/tstring.h
+++ b/taglib/toolkit/tstring.h
@@ -330,20 +330,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
      */
     bool isEmpty() const;
 
-    /*!
-     * Returns true if this string is null -- i.e. it is a copy of the
-     * String::null string.
-     *
-     * \note A string can be empty and not null.  So do not use this method to
-     * check if the string is empty.
-     *
-     * \see isEmpty()
-     *
-     * \deprecated
-     */
-     // BIC: remove
-    bool isNull() const;
-
     /*!
      * Returns a ByteVector containing the string's data.  If \a t is Latin1 or
      * UTF8, this will return a vector of 8 bit characters, otherwise it will use
@@ -504,16 +490,6 @@ namespace TagLib {
      */
     bool operator<(const String &s) const;
 
-    /*!
-     * A null string provided for convenience.
-     *
-     * \warning Do not modify this variable.  It will mess up the internal state
-     * of TagLib.
-     *
-     * \deprecated
-     */
-    static const String null;
-
     /*!
      * Returns a special value used for \a length parameter in String's member
      * functions, means "until the end of the string".
diff --git a/tests/test_string.cpp b/tests/test_string.cpp
index 32137cfe..a9cb7382 100644
--- a/tests/test_string.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_string.cpp
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ public:
 
     s.clear();
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT(s.isEmpty());
-    CPPUNIT_ASSERT(!s.isNull()); // deprecated, but still worth it to check.
 
     String unicode("José Carlos", String::UTF8);
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT(strcmp(unicode.toCString(), "Jos\xe9 Carlos") == 0);