diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Configuration.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Configuration.java
index cfd1cbde3..d049cd3f9 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Configuration.java
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ public class Configuration
         PATTERN_DEFAULTS.put(Defn.MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP, "^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$");
         PATTERN_DEFAULTS.put(Defn.PUBLIC_MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP,
                              "^f[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$");
-        PATTERN_DEFAULTS.put(Defn.LOCAL_VAR_PATTERN_PROP,
-                             "^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$");
     }
 
     ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -349,18 +347,6 @@ public class Configuration
         return getRegexpProperty(Defn.PUBLIC_MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP);
     }
 
-    /** @return pattern to match local variables **/
-    String getLocalVarPat()
-    {
-        return getPatternProperty(Defn.LOCAL_VAR_PATTERN_PROP);
-    }
-
-    /** @return regexp to match local variables **/
-    RE getLocalVarRegexp()
-    {
-        return getRegexpProperty(Defn.LOCAL_VAR_PATTERN_PROP);
-    }
-
     /** @return the maximum constructor length **/
     int getMaxConstructorLength()
     {
diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Defn.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Defn.java
index d92e86d2b..c83ad9a10 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Defn.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Defn.java
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ public interface Defn
     String MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP = "checkstyle.pattern.member";
     /** property name for the public member variable pattern **/
     String PUBLIC_MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP = "checkstyle.pattern.publicmember";
-    /** property name for the method local variable pattern **/
-    String LOCAL_VAR_PATTERN_PROP = "checkstyle.pattern.localvar";
     /** property name for length of constructors **/
     String MAX_CONSTRUCTOR_LENGTH_PROP = "checkstyle.maxconstructorlen";
     /** property name for allowing protected data **/
@@ -101,7 +99,6 @@ public interface Defn
             CONST_PATTERN_PROP,
             MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP,
             PUBLIC_MEMBER_PATTERN_PROP,
-            LOCAL_VAR_PATTERN_PROP,
         };
 
     /** All the integer properties */
diff --git a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
index d7717d89d..f00768149 100644
--- a/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
+++ b/src/checkstyle/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/Verifier.java
@@ -253,13 +253,6 @@ class Verifier
     void verifyVariable(MyVariable aVar)
     {
         if (inMethodBlock()) {
-            if (aVar.getModifierSet().containsFinal()) {
-            }
-            else {
-                checkVariable(aVar,
-                              mConfig.getLocalVarRegexp(),
-                              mConfig.getLocalVarPat());
-            }
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
index df304854f..d61b3a2ac 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/CheckerTest.java
@@ -307,9 +307,6 @@ public class CheckerTest
             filepath + ":42:40: ',' is not followed by whitespace.",
             filepath + ":71:30: ',' is not followed by whitespace.",
             filepath + ":103: Constructor length is 10 lines (max allowed is 9).",
-            filepath + ":119:13: Name 'ABC' must match pattern '^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$'.",
-            filepath + ":130:18: Name 'I' must match pattern '^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$'.",
-            filepath + ":132:20: Name 'InnerBlockVariable' must match pattern '^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$'.",
             filepath + ":161: Comment matches to-do format 'FIXME:'.",
             filepath + ":162: Comment matches to-do format 'FIXME:'.",
             filepath + ":163: Comment matches to-do format 'FIXME:'.",