diff --git a/core/includes/schema.inc b/core/includes/schema.inc
index bb1c6e6..9f83423 100644
--- a/core/includes/schema.inc
+++ b/core/includes/schema.inc
@@ -22,9 +22,6 @@
 /**
  * Gets the schema definition of a table, or the whole database schema.
  *
- * The returned schema will include any modifications made by any
- * module that implements hook_schema_alter().
- *
  * @param string $table
  *   The name of the table. If not given, the schema of all tables is returned.
  * @param bool $rebuild
@@ -54,9 +51,6 @@ function drupal_get_schema($table = NULL, $rebuild = FALSE) {
 /**
  * Gets the whole database schema.
  *
- * The returned schema will include any modifications made by any
- * module that implements hook_schema_alter().
- *
  * @param bool $rebuild
  *   If TRUE, the schema will be rebuilt instead of retrieved from the cache.
  */
@@ -86,7 +80,6 @@ function drupal_get_complete_schema($rebuild = FALSE) {
         _drupal_schema_initialize($current, $module);
         $schema = array_merge($schema, $current);
       }
-      drupal_alter('schema', $schema);
 
       if ($rebuild) {
         Cache::deleteTags(array('schema' => TRUE));
@@ -198,10 +191,6 @@ function drupal_set_installed_schema_version($module, $version) {
 /**
  * Creates all tables defined in a module's hook_schema().
  *
- * Note: This function does not pass the module's schema through
- * hook_schema_alter(). The module's tables will be created exactly as the
- * module defines them.
- *
  * @param string $module
  *   The module for which the tables will be created.
  */
@@ -217,10 +206,6 @@ function drupal_install_schema($module) {
 /**
  * Removes all tables defined in a module's hook_schema().
  *
- * Note: This function does not pass the module's schema through
- * hook_schema_alter(). The module's tables will be created exactly as the
- * module defines them.
- *
  * @param string $module
  *   The module for which the tables will be removed.
  *
@@ -246,19 +231,12 @@ function drupal_uninstall_schema($module) {
  *
  * Use this function only if you explicitly need the original
  * specification of a schema, as it was defined in a module's
- * hook_schema(). No additional default values will be set,
- * hook_schema_alter() is not invoked and these unprocessed
- * definitions won't be cached.
+ * hook_schema().
  *
  * This function can be used to retrieve a schema specification in
  * hook_schema(), so it allows you to derive your tables from existing
  * specifications.
  *
- * It is also used by drupal_install_schema() and
- * drupal_uninstall_schema() to ensure that a module's tables are
- * created exactly as specified without any changes introduced by a
- * module that implements hook_schema_alter().
- *
  * @param string $module
  *   The module to which the table belongs.
  * @param string $table
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.api.php b/core/modules/system/system.api.php
index 59dfce0..62726e2 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.api.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.api.php
@@ -1961,7 +1961,7 @@ function hook_requirements($phase) {
  * By declaring the tables used by your module via an implementation of
  * hook_schema(), these tables will be available on all supported database
  * engines. You don't have to deal with the different SQL dialects for table
- * creation and alteration of the supported database engines.
+ * creation of the supported database engines.
  *
  * See the Schema API Handbook at http://drupal.org/node/146843 for details on
  * schema definition structures.
@@ -1971,8 +1971,6 @@ function hook_requirements($phase) {
  *   array, the key is a table name and the value is a table structure
  *   definition.
  *
- * @see hook_schema_alter()
- *
  * @ingroup schemaapi
  */
 function hook_schema() {
@@ -2032,31 +2030,6 @@ function hook_schema() {
 }
 
 /**
- * Perform alterations to existing database schemas.
- *
- * When a module modifies the database structure of another module (by
- * changing, adding or removing fields, keys or indexes), it should
- * implement hook_schema_alter() to update the default $schema to take its
- * changes into account.
- *
- * See hook_schema() for details on the schema definition structure.
- *
- * @param $schema
- *   Nested array describing the schemas for all modules.
- *
- * @ingroup schemaapi
- */
-function hook_schema_alter(&$schema) {
-  // Add field to existing schema.
-  $schema['users']['fields']['timezone_id'] = array(
-    'type' => 'int',
-    'not null' => TRUE,
-    'default' => 0,
-    'description' => 'Per-user timezone configuration.',
-  );
-}
-
-/**
  * Perform alterations to a structured query.
  *
  * Structured (aka dynamic) queries that have tags associated may be altered by any module