diff --git a/neo/renderer/Image.h b/neo/renderer/Image.h
index 18dcb9a5..827ee9dd 100644
--- a/neo/renderer/Image.h
+++ b/neo/renderer/Image.h
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ public:
 	int			BitsForInternalFormat( int internalFormat ) const;
 	void		UploadCompressedNormalMap( int width, int height, const byte *rgba, int mipLevel );
 	GLenum		SelectInternalFormat( const byte **dataPtrs, int numDataPtrs, int width, int height,
-									 textureDepth_t minimumDepth, bool *monochromeResult ) const;
+									 textureDepth_t minimumDepth ) const;
 	void		ImageProgramStringToCompressedFileName( const char *imageProg, char *fileName ) const;
 	int			NumLevelsForImageSize( int width, int height ) const;
 
@@ -246,7 +246,6 @@ public:
 	bool				levelLoadReferenced;	// for determining if it needs to be purged
 	bool				precompressedFile;		// true when it was loaded from a .d3t file
 	bool				defaulted;				// true if the default image was generated because a file couldn't be loaded
-	bool				isMonochrome;			// so the NV20 path can use a reduced pass count
 	ID_TIME_T				timestamp;				// the most recent of all images used in creation, for reloadImages command
 
 	int					imageHash;				// for identical-image checking
@@ -292,7 +291,6 @@ ID_INLINE idImage::idImage() {
 	internalFormat = 0;
 	cacheUsagePrev = cacheUsageNext = NULL;
 	hashNext = NULL;
-	isMonochrome = false;
 	refCount = 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/neo/renderer/Image_load.cpp b/neo/renderer/Image_load.cpp
index 04cea66e..505793d0 100644
--- a/neo/renderer/Image_load.cpp
+++ b/neo/renderer/Image_load.cpp
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ This may need to scan six cube map images
 ===============
 */
 GLenum idImage::SelectInternalFormat( const byte **dataPtrs, int numDataPtrs, int width, int height,
-									 textureDepth_t minimumDepth, bool *monochromeResult ) const {
+									 textureDepth_t minimumDepth ) const {
 	int		i, c;
 	const byte	*scan;
 	int		rgbOr, rgbAnd, aOr, aAnd;
@@ -222,8 +222,6 @@ GLenum idImage::SelectInternalFormat( const byte **dataPtrs, int numDataPtrs, in
 	aOr = 0;
 	aAnd = -1;
 
-	*monochromeResult = true;	// until shown otherwise
-
 	for ( int side = 0 ; side < numDataPtrs ; side++ ) {
 		scan = dataPtrs[side];
 		for ( i = 0; i < c; i++, scan += 4 ) {
@@ -238,16 +236,6 @@ GLenum idImage::SelectInternalFormat( const byte **dataPtrs, int numDataPtrs, in
 			// if rgb are all the same, the or and and will match
 			rgbDiffer |= ( cor ^ cand );
 
-			// our "isMonochrome" test is more lax than rgbDiffer,
-			// allowing the values to be off by several units and
-			// still use the NV20 mono path
-			if ( *monochromeResult ) {
-				if ( abs( scan[0] - scan[1] ) > 16
-					|| abs( scan[0] - scan[2] ) > 16 ) {
-						*monochromeResult = false;
-					}
-			}
-
 			rgbOr |= cor;
 			rgbAnd &= cand;
 
@@ -554,7 +542,7 @@ void idImage::GenerateImage( const byte *pic, int width, int height,
 	qglGenTextures( 1, &texnum );
 
 	// select proper internal format before we resample
-	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( &pic, 1, width, height, depth, &isMonochrome );
+	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( &pic, 1, width, height, depth );
 
 	// copy or resample data as appropriate for first MIP level
 	if ( ( scaled_width == width ) && ( scaled_height == height ) ) {
@@ -763,7 +751,7 @@ void idImage::Generate3DImage( const byte *pic, int width, int height, int picDe
 
 	// select proper internal format before we resample
 	// this function doesn't need to know it is 3D, so just make it very "tall"
-	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( &pic, 1, width, height * picDepth, minDepthParm, &isMonochrome );
+	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( &pic, 1, width, height * picDepth, minDepthParm );
 
 	uploadHeight = scaled_height;
 	uploadWidth = scaled_width;
@@ -897,7 +885,7 @@ void idImage::GenerateCubeImage( const byte *pic[6], int size,
 	qglGenTextures( 1, &texnum );
 
 	// select proper internal format before we resample
-	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( pic, 6, width, height, depth, &isMonochrome );
+	internalFormat = SelectInternalFormat( pic, 6, width, height, depth );
 
 	// don't bother with downsample for now
 	scaled_width = width;
@@ -1138,11 +1126,6 @@ void idImage::WritePrecompressedImage() {
 	header.dwHeight = uploadHeight;
 	header.dwWidth = uploadWidth;
 
-	// hack in our monochrome flag for the NV20 optimization
-	if ( isMonochrome ) {
-		header.dwFlags |= DDSF_ID_MONOCHROME;
-	}
-
 	if ( FormatIsDXT( altInternalFormat ) ) {
 		// size (in bytes) of the compressed base image
 		header.dwFlags |= DDSF_LINEARSIZE;
@@ -1510,11 +1493,6 @@ void idImage::UploadPrecompressedImage( byte *data, int len ) {
 		return;
 	}
 
-	// we need the monochrome flag for the NV20 optimized path
-	if ( header->dwFlags & DDSF_ID_MONOCHROME ) {
-		isMonochrome = true;
-	}
-
 	type = TT_2D;			// FIXME: we may want to support pre-compressed cube maps in the future
 
 	Bind();