diff --git a/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.cpp b/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.cpp
index cd7ba4b98473..d7b53660c764 100644
--- a/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.cpp
+++ b/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.cpp
@@ -183,7 +183,6 @@ SVGSVGElement::SVGSVGElement(already_AddRefed<mozilla::dom::NodeInfo>& aNodeInfo
                                 aFromParser == FROM_PARSER_FRAGMENT ||
                                 aFromParser == FROM_PARSER_XSLT),
     mImageNeedsTransformInvalidation(false),
-    mIsPaintingSVGImageElement(false),
     mHasChildrenOnlyTransform(false)
 {
 }
@@ -1061,14 +1060,9 @@ SVGSVGElement::HasViewBoxRect() const
 bool
 SVGSVGElement::ShouldSynthesizeViewBox() const
 {
-  MOZ_ASSERT(!HasViewBoxRect(),
-             "Should only be called if we lack a viewBox");
+  MOZ_ASSERT(!HasViewBoxRect(), "Should only be called if we lack a viewBox");
 
-  nsIDocument* doc = GetUncomposedDoc();
-  return doc &&
-    doc->IsBeingUsedAsImage() &&
-    !mIsPaintingSVGImageElement &&
-    !GetParent();
+  return IsRoot() && OwnerDoc()->IsBeingUsedAsImage();
 }
 
 bool
@@ -1108,12 +1102,6 @@ SVGSVGElement::ClearPreserveAspectRatioProperty()
   return valPtr;
 }
 
-void
-SVGSVGElement::SetIsPaintingForSVGImageElement(bool aIsPaintingSVGImageElement)
-{
-  mIsPaintingSVGImageElement = aIsPaintingSVGImageElement;
-}
-
 void
 SVGSVGElement::
   SetImageOverridePreserveAspectRatio(const SVGPreserveAspectRatio& aPAR)
diff --git a/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.h b/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.h
index d8aa70aa506e..95f12fb6b2f0 100644
--- a/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.h
+++ b/dom/svg/SVGSVGElement.h
@@ -317,8 +317,6 @@ private:
   const SVGPreserveAspectRatio* GetPreserveAspectRatioProperty() const;
   bool ClearPreserveAspectRatioProperty();
 
-  void SetIsPaintingForSVGImageElement(bool aIsPaintingSVGImageElement);
-
   bool IsRoot() const {
     NS_ASSERTION((IsInUncomposedDoc() && !GetParent()) ==
                  (OwnerDoc() && (OwnerDoc()->GetRootElement() == this)),
@@ -420,7 +418,6 @@ private:
   // to manually kick off animation when they are bound to the tree.
   bool     mStartAnimationOnBindToTree;
   bool     mImageNeedsTransformInvalidation;
-  bool     mIsPaintingSVGImageElement;
   bool     mHasChildrenOnlyTransform;
 };
 
@@ -447,8 +444,6 @@ public:
       // and overflow properties here, too. See bug 272288 comment 36.
       mRootElem->SetImageOverridePreserveAspectRatio(
           *aSVGContext->GetPreserveAspectRatio());
-      mRootElem->SetIsPaintingForSVGImageElement(
-          aSVGContext->IsPaintingForSVGImageElement());
     }
 
     mOriginalTime = mRootElem->GetCurrentTime();
@@ -460,7 +455,6 @@ public:
     mRootElem->SetCurrentTime(mOriginalTime);
     if (mHaveOverrides) {
       mRootElem->ClearImageOverridePreserveAspectRatio();
-      mRootElem->SetIsPaintingForSVGImageElement(false);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/layout/svg/SVGImageContext.h b/layout/svg/SVGImageContext.h
index 8c9727f7b2b3..7cb96d11d67d 100644
--- a/layout/svg/SVGImageContext.h
+++ b/layout/svg/SVGImageContext.h
@@ -23,9 +23,7 @@ namespace mozilla {
 class SVGImageContext
 {
 public:
-  SVGImageContext()
-    : mIsPaintingSVGImageElement(false)
-  { }
+  SVGImageContext() {}
 
   /**
    * Currently it seems that the aViewportSize parameter ends up being used
@@ -42,16 +40,11 @@ public:
    * in order to get the size that's created for |fallbackContext|.  At some
    * point we need to clean this code up, make our abstractions clear, create
    * that utility and stop using Maybe for this parameter.
-   *
-   * Note: 'aIsPaintingSVGImageElement' should be used to indicate whether
-   * the SVG image in question is being painted for an SVG <image> element.
    */
   explicit SVGImageContext(const Maybe<CSSIntSize>& aViewportSize,
-                           const Maybe<SVGPreserveAspectRatio>& aPreserveAspectRatio  = Nothing(),
-                           bool aIsPaintingSVGImageElement = false)
+                           const Maybe<SVGPreserveAspectRatio>& aPreserveAspectRatio  = Nothing())
     : mViewportSize(aViewportSize)
     , mPreserveAspectRatio(aPreserveAspectRatio)
-    , mIsPaintingSVGImageElement(aIsPaintingSVGImageElement)
   { }
 
   static void MaybeInitAndStoreContextPaint(Maybe<SVGImageContext>& aContext,
@@ -78,10 +71,6 @@ public:
     return mContextPaint.get();
   }
 
-  bool IsPaintingForSVGImageElement() const {
-    return mIsPaintingSVGImageElement;
-  }
-
   bool operator==(const SVGImageContext& aOther) const {
     bool contextPaintIsEqual =
       // neither have context paint, or they have the same object:
@@ -92,8 +81,7 @@ public:
 
     return contextPaintIsEqual &&
            mViewportSize == aOther.mViewportSize &&
-           mPreserveAspectRatio == aOther.mPreserveAspectRatio &&
-           mIsPaintingSVGImageElement == aOther.mIsPaintingSVGImageElement;
+           mPreserveAspectRatio == aOther.mPreserveAspectRatio;
   }
 
   bool operator!=(const SVGImageContext& aOther) const {
@@ -107,8 +95,7 @@ public:
     }
     return HashGeneric(hash,
                        mViewportSize.map(HashSize).valueOr(0),
-                       mPreserveAspectRatio.map(HashPAR).valueOr(0),
-                       mIsPaintingSVGImageElement);
+                       mPreserveAspectRatio.map(HashPAR).valueOr(0));
   }
 
 private:
@@ -123,7 +110,6 @@ private:
   RefPtr<SVGEmbeddingContextPaint> mContextPaint;
   Maybe<CSSIntSize>             mViewportSize;
   Maybe<SVGPreserveAspectRatio> mPreserveAspectRatio;
-  bool                          mIsPaintingSVGImageElement;
 };
 
 } // namespace mozilla
diff --git a/layout/svg/nsSVGImageFrame.cpp b/layout/svg/nsSVGImageFrame.cpp
index 9b00e21bc8c1..80f66a2f51bb 100644
--- a/layout/svg/nsSVGImageFrame.cpp
+++ b/layout/svg/nsSVGImageFrame.cpp
@@ -406,8 +406,7 @@ nsSVGImageFrame::PaintSVG(gfxContext& aContext,
       // with preserveAspectRatio and viewBox.
       const Maybe<SVGImageContext> context(
         Some(SVGImageContext(Some(CSSIntSize::Truncate(width, height)),
-                             Some(imgElem->mPreserveAspectRatio.GetAnimValue()),
-                             /* aIsPaintingSVGImageElement */ true)));
+                             Some(imgElem->mPreserveAspectRatio.GetAnimValue()))));
 
       // For the actual draw operation to draw crisply (and at the right size),
       // our destination rect needs to be |width|x|height|, *in dev pixels*.