diff --git a/packages/xforms-engine/src/expression/DependentExpression.ts b/packages/xforms-engine/src/expression/DependentExpression.ts
index e343a256..bdf710d2 100644
--- a/packages/xforms-engine/src/expression/DependentExpression.ts
+++ b/packages/xforms-engine/src/expression/DependentExpression.ts
@@ -38,11 +38,6 @@ interface DependentExpressionOptions {
 	 */
 	readonly ignoreContextReference?: boolean;
 
-	/**
-	 * @default true
-	 */
-	readonly ignoreNullExpressions?: boolean;
-
 	readonly semanticDependencies?: SemanticDependencyOptions;
 }
 
@@ -61,7 +56,6 @@ export class DependentExpression<Type extends DependentExpressionResultType> {
 
 		const {
 			ignoreContextReference = false,
-			ignoreNullExpressions = true,
 			semanticDependencies = {
 				parentContext: false,
 				translations: false,
@@ -71,7 +65,6 @@ export class DependentExpression<Type extends DependentExpressionResultType> {
 		const dependencyReferences = new Set(
 			resolveDependencyNodesets(context.reference, expression, {
 				ignoreReferenceToContextPath: ignoreContextReference,
-				simulateNullKeyword: ignoreNullExpressions,
 			})
 		);
 
diff --git a/packages/xforms-engine/src/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.ts b/packages/xforms-engine/src/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.ts
index aedab94f..02372e73 100644
--- a/packages/xforms-engine/src/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.ts
+++ b/packages/xforms-engine/src/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.ts
@@ -29,29 +29,10 @@ interface PathResolutionOptions {
 	 * cycle analysis.
 	 */
 	readonly ignoreReferenceToContextPath?: boolean;
-
-	/**
-	 * Treats the literal sub-expression `null` as if it were a keyword. This is a
-	 * deviation from XPath (where `null` would be a RelativeLocationPath
-	 * referencing a child node by that name). However, in real-world usage, some
-	 * forms evidently use `null` as a keyword representing a null and/or blank
-	 * value.
-	 *
-	 * @default true
-	 *
-	 * @todo Some equivalent of this flag has been present, with the same default,
-	 * since very early Web Forms exploratory work. At time of writing, it has
-	 * never been overridden in any equivalent context. This has not been a source
-	 * of any known bug/unexpected/unusual behavior. Howevever, it would probably
-	 * be more robust to override the default whenever a form definition includes
-	 * a node literally named `<null/>`.
-	 */
-	readonly simulateNullKeyword?: boolean;
 }
 
 const defaultPathResolutionOptions: Required<PathResolutionOptions> = {
 	ignoreReferenceToContextPath: false,
-	simulateNullKeyword: true,
 };
 
 /**
@@ -75,19 +56,14 @@ export const resolveDependencyNodesets = (
 	expression: string,
 	options: PathResolutionOptions = {}
 ): readonly string[] => {
-	const { ignoreReferenceToContextPath, simulateNullKeyword } = {
+	const { ignoreReferenceToContextPath } = {
 		...defaultPathResolutionOptions,
 		...options,
 	};
 
 	const contextNode = getPathExpressionNode(contextNodeset ?? '"not a path, null fallback"');
 	const expressionRootNode = expressionParser.parse(expression).rootNode;
-
-	let subExpressions = findLocationPathSubExpressionNodes(expressionRootNode);
-
-	if (simulateNullKeyword) {
-		subExpressions = subExpressions.filter((subExpression) => subExpression.text !== 'null');
-	}
+	const subExpressions = findLocationPathSubExpressionNodes(expressionRootNode);
 
 	const resolvedPathLists = subExpressions.flatMap((subExpression) => {
 		const pathNodes = resolvePath(contextNode, subExpression);
diff --git a/packages/xforms-engine/test/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.test.ts b/packages/xforms-engine/test/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.test.ts
index fe23a567..b568f640 100644
--- a/packages/xforms-engine/test/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.test.ts
+++ b/packages/xforms-engine/test/parse/xpath/dependency-analysis.test.ts
@@ -312,6 +312,16 @@ describe('Dependency analysis', () => {
 			expression: '//. | //./foo | //.. | //../foo',
 			expected: ['//.', '//foo', '//..'],
 		},
+
+		// This case exists to test removal of such a special case.
+		//
+		// Discussion here: https://github.com/getodk/web-forms/pull/166#discussion_r1680168253
+		{
+			description: 'null is not a keyword, nor special cased',
+			contextNodeset: '/data',
+			expression: 'count(null) > count(foo/null)',
+			expected: ['/data/null', '/data/foo/null'],
+		},
 	])('$description', ({ contextNodeset, expression, expected }) => {
 		it(`resolves nodeset dependencies in expression ${JSON.stringify(expression)}, with context ${JSON.stringify(contextNodeset)}, producing nodesets: ${JSON.stringify(expected)}`, () => {
 			const actual = resolveDependencyNodesets(contextNodeset, expression);