diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/AliasPackage.php b/src/Composer/Package/AliasPackage.php
index b0649ded0..ee93ec497 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/AliasPackage.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/AliasPackage.php
@@ -392,11 +392,6 @@ class AliasPackage extends BasePackage implements CompletePackageInterface
         return $this->aliasOf->getArchiveExcludes();
     }
 
-    public function isDefaultBranch()
-    {
-        return $this->aliasOf->isDefaultBranch();
-    }
-
     public function isAbandoned()
     {
         return $this->aliasOf->isAbandoned();
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Dumper/ArrayDumper.php b/src/Composer/Package/Dumper/ArrayDumper.php
index ce8d0c215..dece598f1 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Dumper/ArrayDumper.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Dumper/ArrayDumper.php
@@ -92,10 +92,6 @@ class ArrayDumper
             $data['time'] = $package->getReleaseDate()->format(DATE_RFC3339);
         }
 
-        if ($package->isDefaultBranch()) {
-            $data['default_branch'] = true;
-        }
-
         $data = $this->dumpValues($package, $keys, $data);
 
         if ($package instanceof CompletePackageInterface) {
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Loader/ArrayLoader.php b/src/Composer/Package/Loader/ArrayLoader.php
index d24d34d36..228632b42 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Loader/ArrayLoader.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Loader/ArrayLoader.php
@@ -53,9 +53,6 @@ class ArrayLoader implements LoaderInterface
         } else {
             $version = $this->versionParser->normalize($config['version']);
         }
-        if (isset($config['default_branch']) && $config['default_branch'] === true) {
-            $version = '9999999-dev';
-        }
         $package = new $class($config['name'], $version, $config['version']);
         $package->setType(isset($config['type']) ? strtolower($config['type']) : 'library');
 
@@ -78,10 +75,6 @@ class ArrayLoader implements LoaderInterface
             $package->setInstallationSource($config['installation-source']);
         }
 
-        if (isset($config['default_branch']) && $config['default_branch'] === true) {
-            $package->setIsDefaultBranch(true);
-        }
-
         if (isset($config['source'])) {
             if (!isset($config['source']['type']) || !isset($config['source']['url']) || !isset($config['source']['reference'])) {
                 throw new \UnexpectedValueException(sprintf(
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/Package.php b/src/Composer/Package/Package.php
index 7ce40a507..6c7b426e7 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/Package.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/Package.php
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ class Package extends BasePackage
     protected $devAutoload = array();
     protected $includePaths = array();
     protected $archiveExcludes = array();
-    protected $isDefaultBranch = false;
 
     /**
      * Creates a new in memory package.
@@ -570,22 +569,6 @@ class Package extends BasePackage
         return $this->archiveExcludes;
     }
 
-    /**
-     * @param bool $defaultBranch
-     */
-    public function setIsDefaultBranch($defaultBranch)
-    {
-        $this->isDefaultBranch = $defaultBranch;
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * {@inheritDoc}
-     */
-    public function isDefaultBranch()
-    {
-        return $this->isDefaultBranch;
-    }
-
     /**
      * Replaces current version and pretty version with passed values.
      * It also sets stability.
diff --git a/src/Composer/Package/PackageInterface.php b/src/Composer/Package/PackageInterface.php
index c09c9e7ba..cb16efa7e 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Package/PackageInterface.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Package/PackageInterface.php
@@ -352,11 +352,6 @@ interface PackageInterface
      */
     public function getArchiveExcludes();
 
-    /**
-     * @return bool
-     */
-    public function isDefaultBranch();
-
     /**
      * Returns a list of options to download package dist files
      *
diff --git a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
index be8ed7782..f248420b0 100644
--- a/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
+++ b/src/Composer/Repository/VcsRepository.php
@@ -149,10 +149,8 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
             $this->loader = new ArrayLoader($this->versionParser);
         }
 
-        $hasRootIdentifierComposerJson = false;
         try {
-            $hasRootIdentifierComposerJson = $driver->hasComposerFile($driver->getRootIdentifier());
-            if ($hasRootIdentifierComposerJson) {
+            if ($driver->hasComposerFile($driver->getRootIdentifier())) {
                 $data = $driver->getComposerInformation($driver->getRootIdentifier());
                 $this->packageName = !empty($data['name']) ? $data['name'] : null;
             }
@@ -213,9 +211,6 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                 $data['version'] = preg_replace('{[.-]?dev$}i', '', $data['version']);
                 $data['version_normalized'] = preg_replace('{(^dev-|[.-]?dev$)}i', '', $data['version_normalized']);
 
-                // make sure tag do not contain the default_branch marker
-                unset($data['default_branch']);
-
                 // broken package, version doesn't match tag
                 if ($data['version_normalized'] !== $parsedTag) {
                     if ($isVeryVerbose) {
@@ -260,11 +255,6 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
         }
 
         $branches = $driver->getBranches();
-        // make sure the root identifier branch gets loaded first
-        if ($hasRootIdentifierComposerJson && isset($branches[$driver->getRootIdentifier()])) {
-            $branches = array($driver->getRootIdentifier() => $branches[$driver->getRootIdentifier()]) + $branches;
-        }
-
         foreach ($branches as $branch => $identifier) {
             $msg = 'Reading composer.json of <info>' . ($this->packageName ?: $this->url) . '</info> (<comment>' . $branch . '</comment>)';
             if ($isVeryVerbose) {
@@ -294,9 +284,6 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                 $prefix = substr($branch, 0, 1) === 'v' ? 'v' : '';
                 $version = $prefix . preg_replace('{(\.9{7})+}', '.x', $parsedBranch);
             }
-            if ($driver->getRootIdentifier() === $branch) {
-                $parsedBranch = '9999999-dev';
-            }
 
             $cachedPackage = $this->getCachedPackageVersion($version, $identifier, $isVerbose, $isVeryVerbose);
             if ($cachedPackage) {
@@ -322,11 +309,6 @@ class VcsRepository extends ArrayRepository implements ConfigurableRepositoryInt
                 $data['version'] = $version;
                 $data['version_normalized'] = $parsedBranch;
 
-                unset($data['default_branch']);
-                if ($driver->getRootIdentifier() === $branch) {
-                    $data['default_branch'] = true;
-                }
-
                 if ($isVeryVerbose) {
                     $this->io->writeError('Importing branch '.$branch.' ('.$data['version'].')');
                 }