diff --git a/src/plasma/private/theme_p.cpp b/src/plasma/private/theme_p.cpp
index 757c40e5a..1111870bf 100644
--- a/src/plasma/private/theme_p.cpp
+++ b/src/plasma/private/theme_p.cpp
@@ -46,25 +46,6 @@ QHash<QString, ThemePrivate *> ThemePrivate::themes = QHash<QString, ThemePrivat
 QHash<QString, int> ThemePrivate::themesRefCount = QHash<QString, int>();
 
 
-class ThemePrivateSingleton
-{
-public:
-    ThemePrivateSingleton()
-    {
-        self.isDefault = true;
-
-        //FIXME: if/when kconfig gets change notification, this will be unnecessary
-        KDirWatch::self()->addFile(QStandardPaths::writableLocation(QStandardPaths::ConfigLocation) + QLatin1Char('/') + ThemePrivate::themeRcFile);
-        QObject::connect(KDirWatch::self(), SIGNAL(created(QString)), &self, SLOT(settingsFileChanged(QString)));
-        QObject::connect(KDirWatch::self(), SIGNAL(dirty(QString)), &self, SLOT(settingsFileChanged(QString)));
-    }
-
-   ThemePrivate self;
-};
-
-Q_GLOBAL_STATIC(ThemePrivateSingleton, themePrivateSelf)
-
-
 ThemePrivate::ThemePrivate(QObject *parent)
     : QObject(parent),
       colorScheme(QPalette::Active, KColorScheme::Window, KSharedConfigPtr(0)),
@@ -114,11 +95,6 @@ ThemePrivate::~ThemePrivate()
     delete pixmapCache;
 }
 
-ThemePrivate *ThemePrivate::self()
-{
-    return &themePrivateSelf()->self;
-}
-
 KConfigGroup &ThemePrivate::config()
     {
         if (!cfg.isValid()) {
diff --git a/src/plasma/private/theme_p.h b/src/plasma/private/theme_p.h
index 2e1bebc89..a5c9cef95 100644
--- a/src/plasma/private/theme_p.h
+++ b/src/plasma/private/theme_p.h
@@ -68,8 +68,6 @@ public:
     ThemePrivate(QObject *parent = 0);
     ~ThemePrivate();
 
-    static ThemePrivate *self();
-
     KConfigGroup &config();
 
     QString findInTheme(const QString &image, const QString &theme, bool cache = true);
diff --git a/src/plasma/theme.cpp b/src/plasma/theme.cpp
index fabda0383..60c57074a 100644
--- a/src/plasma/theme.cpp
+++ b/src/plasma/theme.cpp
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ Theme *Theme::defaultTheme()
 }
 
 Theme::Theme(QObject *parent)
-    : QObject(parent),
-      d(ThemePrivate::self())
+    : QObject(parent)
 {
     if (!ThemePrivate::globalTheme) {
         ThemePrivate::globalTheme = new ThemePrivate;