diff --git a/includes/form.inc b/includes/form.inc
index 6a1e2f751fd64f721b54c4be32d1ea4f275e3ad4..826b6777bcdeb1eaa67dfceb90abcd6bbefc78f2 100644
--- a/includes/form.inc
+++ b/includes/form.inc
@@ -3735,25 +3735,11 @@ function form_process_vertical_tabs($element, &$form_state) {
  */
 function theme_vertical_tabs($variables) {
   $element = $variables['element'];
-  // Even if there are no tabs the element will still have a child element for
-  // the active tab. We need to iterate over the tabs to ascertain if any
-  // are visible before showing the wrapper and h2.
-  $visible_tab = FALSE;
-  $output = '';
-  foreach (element_children($element['group']) as $tab_index) {
-    if (!isset($element['group'][$tab_index]['#access']) ||
-        !empty($element['group'][$tab_index]['#access'])) {
-      $visible_tab = TRUE;
-      break;
-    }
-  }
-  if ($visible_tab) {
-    // Add required JavaScript and Stylesheet.
-    drupal_add_library('system', 'drupal.vertical-tabs');
+  // Add required JavaScript and Stylesheet.
+  drupal_add_library('system', 'drupal.vertical-tabs');
 
-    $output = '<h2 class="element-invisible">' . t('Vertical Tabs') . '</h2>';
-    $output .= '<div class="vertical-tabs-panes">' . $element['#children'] . '</div>';
-  }
+  $output = '<h2 class="element-invisible">' . t('Vertical Tabs') . '</h2>';
+  $output .= '<div class="vertical-tabs-panes">' . $element['#children'] . '</div>';
   return $output;
 }
 
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
index 08d2fcacc5b2585c1d4591b36bb173a319be4fc0..675e8d189086251b5283b0f11793470b25c21f8a 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
@@ -930,10 +930,6 @@ class FormsElementsVerticalTabsFunctionalTest extends DrupalWebTestCase {
 
   function setUp() {
     parent::setUp('form_test');
-
-    $this->admin_user = $this->drupalCreateUser(array('access vertical_tab_test tabs'));
-    $this->web_user = $this->drupalCreateUser();
-    $this->drupalLogin($this->admin_user);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -947,22 +943,6 @@ class FormsElementsVerticalTabsFunctionalTest extends DrupalWebTestCase {
     $position2 = strpos($this->content, 'misc/collapse.js');
     $this->assertTrue($position1 !== FALSE && $position2 !== FALSE && $position1 < $position2, t('vertical-tabs.js is included before collapse.js'));
   }
-
-  /**
-   * Ensures that vertical tab markup is not shown if user has no tab access.
-   */
-  function testWrapperNotShownWhenEmpty() {
-    // Test admin user can see vertical tabs and wrapper.
-    $this->drupalGet('form_test/vertical-tabs');
-    $wrapper = $this->xpath("//div[@class='vertical-tabs-panes']");
-    $this->assertTrue(isset($wrapper[0]), 'Vertical tab panes found.');
-
-    // Test wrapper markup not present for non-privileged web user.
-    $this->drupalLogin($this->web_user);
-    $this->drupalGet('form_test/vertical-tabs');
-    $wrapper = $this->xpath("//div[@class='vertical-tabs-panes']");
-    $this->assertFalse(isset($wrapper[0]), 'Vertical tab wrappers are not displayed to unprivileged users.');
-  }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/tests/form_test.module b/modules/simpletest/tests/form_test.module
index 5dd1ce7a70bddd5231169b9313e8fdeeb3cb7f5f..5d6527680f0f5b2d0c5aa20aa02ffcc22e3083e6 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/tests/form_test.module
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/form_test.module
@@ -222,18 +222,6 @@ function form_test_menu() {
   return $items;
 }
 
-/**
- * Implements hook_permission().
- */
-function form_test_permission() {
-  $perms = array(
-    'access vertical_tab_test tabs' => array(
-      'title' => t('Access vertical_tab_test tabs'),
-    ),
-  );
-  return $perms;
-}
-
 /**
  * Form submit handler to return form values as JSON.
  */
@@ -643,7 +631,6 @@ function _form_test_vertical_tabs_form($form, &$form_state) {
     '#title' => t('Tab 1'),
     '#collapsible' => TRUE,
     '#group' => 'vertical_tabs',
-    '#access' => user_access('access vertical_tab_test tabs')
   );
   $form['tab1']['field1'] = array(
     '#title' => t('Field 1'),
@@ -654,7 +641,6 @@ function _form_test_vertical_tabs_form($form, &$form_state) {
     '#title' => t('Tab 2'),
     '#collapsible' => TRUE,
     '#group' => 'vertical_tabs',
-    '#access' => user_access('access vertical_tab_test tabs')
   );
   $form['tab2']['field2'] = array(
     '#title' => t('Field 2'),