diff --git a/clutter/clutter-actor.c b/clutter/clutter-actor.c
index 1d22739f7..3dea01631 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-actor.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-actor.c
@@ -2039,10 +2039,6 @@ _clutter_actor_fully_transform_vertices (ClutterActor *self,
 
   g_return_val_if_fail (CLUTTER_IS_ACTOR (self), FALSE);
 
-  /* NB: _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive will never
-   * include the transformation between stage coordinates and OpenGL
-   * eye coordinates, we have to explicitly use the
-   * stage->apply_transform to get that... */
   stage = _clutter_actor_get_stage_internal (self);
 
   /* We really can't do anything meaningful in this case so don't try
@@ -2050,10 +2046,10 @@ _clutter_actor_fully_transform_vertices (ClutterActor *self,
   if (stage == NULL)
     return FALSE;
 
-  /* Setup the modelview */
-  cogl_matrix_init_identity (&modelview);
-  _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform (stage, &modelview);
-  _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (self, stage, &modelview);
+  /* Note: we pass NULL as the ancestor because we don't just want the modelview
+   * that gets us to stage coordinates, we want to go all the way to eye
+   * coordinates */
+  _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (self, NULL, &modelview);
 
   /* Fetch the projection and viewport */
   _clutter_stage_get_projection_matrix (CLUTTER_STAGE (stage), &projection);
@@ -2098,21 +2094,7 @@ clutter_actor_apply_transform_to_point (ClutterActor        *self,
 /* _clutter_actor_get_relative_modelview:
  *
  * Retrieves the modelview transformation relative to some ancestor
- * actor, or the stage if NULL is given for the ancestor.
- *
- * Note: This will never include the transformations from
- * stage::apply_transform since that would give you a modelview
- * transform relative to the OpenGL window coordinate space that the
- * stage lies within.
- *
- * If you need to do a full modelview + projective transform and get
- * to window coordinates then you should explicitly apply the stage
- * transform to an identity matrix and use
- * _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform like:
- *
- *   cogl_matrix_init_identity (&mtx);
- *   stage = _clutter_actor_get_stage_internal (self);
- *   _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform (stage, &mtx);
+ * actor, or eye coordinates if NULL is given for the ancestor.
  */
 /* FIXME: We should be caching the stage relative modelview along with the
  * actor itself */
@@ -2121,8 +2103,6 @@ _clutter_actor_get_relative_modelview (ClutterActor *self,
                                        ClutterActor *ancestor,
                                        CoglMatrix *matrix)
 {
-  g_return_if_fail (ancestor != NULL);
-
   cogl_matrix_init_identity (matrix);
 
   _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (self, ancestor, matrix);
diff --git a/clutter/clutter-paint-volume.c b/clutter/clutter-paint-volume.c
index 2e39ac823..71dc8ee7d 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-paint-volume.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-paint-volume.c
@@ -1004,21 +1004,12 @@ _clutter_paint_volume_get_stage_paint_box (ClutterPaintVolume *pv,
 
   _clutter_paint_volume_copy_static (pv, &projected_pv);
 
-  /* NB: _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive will never
-   * include the transformation between stage coordinates and OpenGL
-   * eye coordinates, we have to explicitly use the
-   * stage->apply_transform to get that... */
   cogl_matrix_init_identity (&modelview);
 
   /* If the paint volume isn't already in eye coordinates... */
   if (pv->actor)
-    {
-      ClutterActor *stage_actor = CLUTTER_ACTOR (stage);
-      _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform (stage_actor, &modelview);
-      _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (pv->actor,
-                                                          stage_actor,
-                                                          &modelview);
-    }
+    _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (pv->actor, NULL,
+                                                        &modelview);
 
   _clutter_stage_get_projection_matrix (stage, &projection);
   _clutter_stage_get_viewport (stage,
@@ -1052,25 +1043,6 @@ _clutter_paint_volume_transform_relative (ClutterPaintVolume *pv,
   _clutter_paint_volume_set_reference_actor (pv, relative_to_ancestor);
 
   cogl_matrix_init_identity (&matrix);
-
-  if (relative_to_ancestor == NULL)
-    {
-      /* NB: _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive will never
-       * include the transformation between stage coordinates and OpenGL
-       * eye coordinates, we have to explicitly use the
-       * stage->apply_transform to get that... */
-      ClutterActor *stage = _clutter_actor_get_stage_internal (actor);
-
-      /* We really can't do anything meaningful in this case so don't try
-       * to do any transform */
-      if (G_UNLIKELY (stage == NULL))
-        return;
-
-      _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform (stage, &matrix);
-
-      relative_to_ancestor = stage;
-    }
-
   _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (actor,
                                                       relative_to_ancestor,
                                                       &matrix);
diff --git a/clutter/clutter-texture.c b/clutter/clutter-texture.c
index b21fa0626..de328f089 100644
--- a/clutter/clutter-texture.c
+++ b/clutter/clutter-texture.c
@@ -530,15 +530,7 @@ update_fbo (ClutterActor *self)
       if ((source_parent = clutter_actor_get_parent (priv->fbo_source)))
         {
           CoglMatrix modelview;
-
-          /* NB: _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive
-           * will never include the transformation between stage
-           * coordinates and OpenGL window coordinates, we have to
-           * explicitly use the stage->apply_transform to get that...
-           */
-
           cogl_matrix_init_identity (&modelview);
-          _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform (stage, &modelview);
           _clutter_actor_apply_modelview_transform_recursive (source_parent,
                                                               NULL,
                                                               &modelview);