This was added deliberately, so you don't want to revert it:

    commit 393a95c65bafdae203393006e634d05857dcc2c2
    Author: Aled Sage <aled.sage@gmail.com>
    Date:   Fri Nov 15 10:53:03 2013 +0000

    Fix NPE in AbstractController.update

@grkvlt can you go through this entire commit please, and see if you've accidentally reverted any other changes? I've found two so far, but won't guarantee that I'll find them all so would be very hesitant to merge until you've thoroughly reviewed it again!