diff --git a/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/docload_wnd.xul b/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/docload_wnd.xul
index 537a618e386c..b64820c40791 100644
--- a/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/docload_wnd.xul
+++ b/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/docload_wnd.xul
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="chrome://mochikit/content/tests/SimpleTest/EventUtils.js"/>
-  <script type="application/javascript"
-          src="chrome://browser/content/utilityOverlay.js"/>
 
   <script type="application/javascript">
   <![CDATA[
diff --git a/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/test_scroll.xul b/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/test_scroll.xul
index 29a01b092a36..ddd44ef8c640 100644
--- a/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/test_scroll.xul
+++ b/accessible/tests/mochitest/events/test_scroll.xul
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="chrome://mochikit/content/tests/SimpleTest/SimpleTest.js" />
-  <script type="application/javascript"
-          src="chrome://browser/content/utilityOverlay.js"/>
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="../common.js" />
diff --git a/accessible/tests/mochitest/name/nsRootAcc_wnd.xul b/accessible/tests/mochitest/name/nsRootAcc_wnd.xul
index e1574e4c6dab..0630234cce92 100644
--- a/accessible/tests/mochitest/name/nsRootAcc_wnd.xul
+++ b/accessible/tests/mochitest/name/nsRootAcc_wnd.xul
@@ -10,9 +10,6 @@
 
 <window xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul">
 
-  <script type="application/javascript"
-          src="chrome://browser/content/utilityOverlay.js"/>
-
   <script type="application/javascript">
   <![CDATA[
     var gOpenerWnd = window.opener.wrappedJSObject;
diff --git a/accessible/tests/mochitest/relations/test_tabbrowser.xul b/accessible/tests/mochitest/relations/test_tabbrowser.xul
index f3f875a2ff98..0ace9e6ddf7e 100644
--- a/accessible/tests/mochitest/relations/test_tabbrowser.xul
+++ b/accessible/tests/mochitest/relations/test_tabbrowser.xul
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="chrome://mochikit/content/tests/SimpleTest/SimpleTest.js" />
-  <script type="application/javascript"
-          src="chrome://browser/content/utilityOverlay.js"/>
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="../common.js" />
diff --git a/accessible/tests/mochitest/tree/test_tabbrowser.xul b/accessible/tests/mochitest/tree/test_tabbrowser.xul
index 4d08f3229a1e..8a309b85ed5d 100644
--- a/accessible/tests/mochitest/tree/test_tabbrowser.xul
+++ b/accessible/tests/mochitest/tree/test_tabbrowser.xul
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="chrome://mochikit/content/tests/SimpleTest/SimpleTest.js" />
-  <script type="application/javascript"
-          src="chrome://browser/content/utilityOverlay.js"/>
 
   <script type="application/javascript"
           src="../common.js" />
diff --git a/browser/app/profile/firefox.js b/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
index 4eab638b37ae..131aff0820d2 100644
--- a/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
+++ b/browser/app/profile/firefox.js
@@ -1110,11 +1110,5 @@ pref("prompts.tab_modal.enabled", true);
 // Whether the Panorama should animate going in/out of tabs
 pref("browser.panorama.animate_zoom", true);
 
-// Defines the url to be used for new tabs.
-pref("browser.newtab.url", "about:blank");
-
-// Toggles the content of 'about:newtab'. Shows the grid when enabled.
-pref("browser.newtabpage.enabled", false);
-
 // Enable the DOM full-screen API.
 pref("full-screen-api.enabled", true);
diff --git a/browser/base/content/browser-fullZoom.js b/browser/base/content/browser-fullZoom.js
index e6f54163d85d..369b7b296028 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/browser-fullZoom.js
+++ b/browser/base/content/browser-fullZoom.js
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ var FullZoom = {
       return;
 
     // Avoid the cps roundtrip and apply the default/global pref.
-    if (isBlankPageURL(aURI.spec)) {
+    if (aURI.spec == "about:blank") {
       this._applyPrefToSetting(undefined, aBrowser);
       return;
     }
diff --git a/browser/base/content/browser-places.js b/browser/base/content/browser-places.js
index f3e858e467ea..cdf7fcd3b955 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/browser-places.js
+++ b/browser/base/content/browser-places.js
@@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ var PlacesStarButton = {
     }
 
     // We can load about:blank before the actual page, but there is no point in handling that page.
-    if (isBlankPageURL(this._uri.spec)) {
+    if (this._uri.spec == "about:blank") {
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/browser/base/content/browser.js b/browser/base/content/browser.js
index 0a7ffee3c054..5d1c5b5d5c71 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/browser.js
+++ b/browser/base/content/browser.js
@@ -174,9 +174,6 @@ XPCOMUtils.defineLazyGetter(this, "PopupNotifications", function () {
   }
 });
 
-XPCOMUtils.defineLazyModuleGetter(this, "NewTabUtils",
-  "resource:///modules/NewTabUtils.jsm");
-
 XPCOMUtils.defineLazyGetter(this, "InspectorUI", function() {
   let tmp = {};
   Cu.import("resource:///modules/inspector.jsm", tmp);
@@ -191,7 +188,6 @@ XPCOMUtils.defineLazyGetter(this, "Tilt", function() {
 
 let gInitialPages = [
   "about:blank",
-  "about:newtab",
   "about:privatebrowsing",
   "about:sessionrestore"
 ];
@@ -1711,7 +1707,6 @@ function delayedStartup(isLoadingBlank, mustLoadSidebar) {
 #endif
 
   gBrowserThumbnails.init();
-  NewTabUtils.init();
   TabView.init();
 
   setUrlAndSearchBarWidthForConditionalForwardButton();
@@ -2209,7 +2204,7 @@ function openLocation() {
     else {
       // If there are no open browser windows, open a new one
       win = window.openDialog("chrome://browser/content/", "_blank",
-                              "chrome,all,dialog=no", BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL);
+                              "chrome,all,dialog=no", "about:blank");
       win.addEventListener("load", openLocationCallback, false);
     }
     return;
@@ -2227,7 +2222,7 @@ function openLocationCallback()
 
 function BrowserOpenTab()
 {
-  openUILinkIn(BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL, "tab");
+  openUILinkIn("about:blank", "tab");
 }
 
 /* Called from the openLocation dialog. This allows that dialog to instruct
@@ -2562,7 +2557,7 @@ function URLBarSetURI(aURI) {
     else
       value = losslessDecodeURI(uri);
 
-    valid = !isBlankPageURL(uri.spec);
+    valid = (uri.spec != "about:blank");
   }
 
   gURLBar.value = value;
@@ -2879,7 +2874,7 @@ function getMeOutOfHere() {
   // Get the start page from the *default* pref branch, not the user's
   var prefs = Cc["@mozilla.org/preferences-service;1"]
              .getService(Ci.nsIPrefService).getDefaultBranch(null);
-  var url = BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL;
+  var url = "about:blank";
   try {
     url = prefs.getComplexValue("browser.startup.homepage",
                                 Ci.nsIPrefLocalizedString).data;
@@ -5197,7 +5192,7 @@ nsBrowserAccess.prototype = {
       case Ci.nsIBrowserDOMWindow.OPEN_NEWWINDOW :
         // FIXME: Bug 408379. So how come this doesn't send the
         // referrer like the other loads do?
-        var url = aURI ? aURI.spec : BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL;
+        var url = aURI ? aURI.spec : "about:blank";
         // Pass all params to openDialog to ensure that "url" isn't passed through
         // loadOneOrMoreURIs, which splits based on "|"
         newWindow = openDialog(getBrowserURL(), "_blank", "all,dialog=no", url, null, null, null);
@@ -5230,7 +5225,7 @@ nsBrowserAccess.prototype = {
         let loadInBackground = gPrefService.getBoolPref("browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground");
         let referrer = aOpener ? makeURI(aOpener.location.href) : null;
 
-        let tab = win.gBrowser.loadOneTab(aURI ? aURI.spec : BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL, {
+        let tab = win.gBrowser.loadOneTab(aURI ? aURI.spec : "about:blank", {
                                           referrerURI: referrer,
                                           fromExternal: isExternal,
                                           inBackground: loadInBackground});
@@ -7779,11 +7774,9 @@ function undoCloseWindow(aIndex) {
  */
 function isTabEmpty(aTab) {
   let browser = aTab.linkedBrowser;
-  let uri = browser.currentURI.spec;
-  let body = browser.contentDocument.body;
   return browser.sessionHistory.count < 2 &&
-         isBlankPageURL(uri) &&
-         (!body || !body.hasChildNodes()) &&
+         browser.currentURI.spec == "about:blank" &&
+         !browser.contentDocument.body.hasChildNodes() &&
          !aTab.hasAttribute("busy");
 }
 
diff --git a/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml b/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
index 30f18e072758..14ba5cd644e7 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
+++ b/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@
                   autocomplete.unregisterOpenPage(this.mBrowser.registeredOpenURI);
                   delete this.mBrowser.registeredOpenURI;
                 }
-                if (!isBlankPageURL(aLocation.spec)) {
+                if (aLocation.spec != "about:blank") {
                   autocomplete.registerOpenPage(aLocation);
                   this.mBrowser.registeredOpenURI = aLocation;
                 }
@@ -1065,7 +1065,7 @@
                 }
               }
 
-              if (title && !isBlankPageURL(title)) {
+              if (title && title != "about:blank") {
                 // At this point, we now have a URI.
                 // Let's try to unescape it using a character set
                 // in case the URI is not ASCII.
@@ -1589,7 +1589,7 @@
             aTab.closing = true;
             this._removingTabs.push(aTab);
             if (newTab)
-              this.addTab(BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL, {skipAnimation: true});
+              this.addTab("about:blank", {skipAnimation: true});
             else
               this.tabContainer.updateVisibility();
 
diff --git a/browser/base/content/utilityOverlay.js b/browser/base/content/utilityOverlay.js
index 2923eb6632bf..d98605b87818 100644
--- a/browser/base/content/utilityOverlay.js
+++ b/browser/base/content/utilityOverlay.js
@@ -41,23 +41,11 @@
 
 // Services = object with smart getters for common XPCOM services
 Components.utils.import("resource://gre/modules/Services.jsm");
-Components.utils.import("resource://gre/modules/XPCOMUtils.jsm");
-
-XPCOMUtils.defineLazyGetter(this, "BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL", function () {
-  return Services.prefs.getCharPref("browser.newtab.url") || "about:blank";
-});
 
 var TAB_DROP_TYPE = "application/x-moz-tabbrowser-tab";
 
 var gBidiUI = false;
 
-/**
- * Determines whether the given url is considered a special URL for new tabs.
- */
-function isBlankPageURL(aURL) {
-  return aURL == "about:blank" || aURL == BROWSER_NEW_TAB_URL;
-}
-
 function getBrowserURL()
 {
   return "chrome://browser/content/browser.xul";
@@ -311,7 +299,7 @@ function openLinkIn(url, where, params) {
   else
     w.gBrowser.selectedBrowser.focus();
 
-  if (!loadInBackground && isBlankPageURL(url))
+  if (!loadInBackground && url == "about:blank")
     w.focusAndSelectUrlBar();
 }
 
diff --git a/browser/components/about/AboutRedirector.cpp b/browser/components/about/AboutRedirector.cpp
index 8c58d72c02a6..f7ac39a8a3a9 100644
--- a/browser/components/about/AboutRedirector.cpp
+++ b/browser/components/about/AboutRedirector.cpp
@@ -105,8 +105,6 @@ static RedirEntry kRedirMap[] = {
   { "home", "chrome://browser/content/aboutHome.xhtml",
     nsIAboutModule::URI_SAFE_FOR_UNTRUSTED_CONTENT |
     nsIAboutModule::ALLOW_SCRIPT },
-  { "newtab", "chrome://browser/content/newtab/newTab.xul",
-    nsIAboutModule::ALLOW_SCRIPT },
   { "permissions", "chrome://browser/content/preferences/aboutPermissions.xul",
     nsIAboutModule::ALLOW_SCRIPT },
 };
diff --git a/browser/components/build/nsModule.cpp b/browser/components/build/nsModule.cpp
index a98ae65ba5c7..e366f9880e7c 100644
--- a/browser/components/build/nsModule.cpp
+++ b/browser/components/build/nsModule.cpp
@@ -143,7 +143,6 @@ static const mozilla::Module::ContractIDEntry kBrowserContracts[] = {
     { NS_ABOUT_MODULE_CONTRACTID_PREFIX "sync-progress", &kNS_BROWSER_ABOUT_REDIRECTOR_CID },
 #endif
     { NS_ABOUT_MODULE_CONTRACTID_PREFIX "home", &kNS_BROWSER_ABOUT_REDIRECTOR_CID },
-    { NS_ABOUT_MODULE_CONTRACTID_PREFIX "newtab", &kNS_BROWSER_ABOUT_REDIRECTOR_CID },
     { NS_ABOUT_MODULE_CONTRACTID_PREFIX "permissions", &kNS_BROWSER_ABOUT_REDIRECTOR_CID },
 #if defined(XP_WIN) && !defined(__MINGW32__)
     { NS_BROWSERPROFILEMIGRATOR_CONTRACTID_PREFIX "ie", &kNS_WINIEPROFILEMIGRATOR_CID },