diff --git modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
index 9fd8413..4eb807e 100644
--- modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
+++ modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc
@@ -31,15 +31,11 @@ function taxonomy_term_page($term) {
   drupal_set_breadcrumb($breadcrumb);
   drupal_add_feed('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid . '/feed', 'RSS - ' . $term->name);
 
-  $build = array();
-  // Add term heading if the term has a description
-  if (!empty($term->description)) {
-    $build['term_heading'] = array(
-      '#prefix' => '<div class="term-listing-heading">',
-      '#suffix' => '</div>',
-      'term' => taxonomy_term_view($term, 'full'),
-    );
-  }
+  $build['term_heading'] = array(
+    '#prefix' => '<div class="term-listing-heading">',
+    '#suffix' => '</div>',
+    'term' => taxonomy_term_view($term, 'full'),
+  );
 
   if ($nids = taxonomy_select_nodes($term->tid, TRUE, variable_get('default_nodes_main', 10))) {
     $nodes = node_load_multiple($nids);
diff --git modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
index c622d6a..6dd4f74 100644
--- modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
+++ modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.test
@@ -611,14 +611,6 @@ class TaxonomyTermTestCase extends TaxonomyWebTestCase {
     $this->assertText($edit['name'], t('The randomly generated term name is present.'));
     $this->assertText($edit['description[value]'], t('The randomly generated term description is present.'));
 
-    // Did this page request display a 'term-listing-heading'?
-    $this->assertPattern('|class="term-listing-heading"|', 'Term page displayed the term description element.');
-    // Check that it does NOT show a description when description is blank.
-    $term->description = '';
-    taxonomy_term_save($term);
-    $this->drupalGet('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid);
-    $this->assertNoPattern('|class="term-listing-heading"|', 'Term page did not display the term description when description was blank.');
-
     // Check that the term feed page is working.
     $this->drupalGet('taxonomy/term/' . $term->tid . '/feed');