diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/appendable.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/appendable.cpp
index 4d672fc0515..e46d0790181 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/appendable.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/appendable.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
 *******************************************************************************
-*   Copyright (C) 2011, International Business Machines
+*   Copyright (C) 2011-2012, International Business Machines
 *   Corporation and others.  All Rights Reserved.
 *******************************************************************************
 *   file name:  appendable.cpp
@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ Appendable::getAppendBuffer(int32_t minCapacity,
     return scratch;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(Appendable)
-
 // UnicodeStringAppendable is implemented in unistr.cpp.
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/listformatter.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/listformatter.cpp
index 6a6e986377d..60211460279 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/listformatter.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/listformatter.cpp
@@ -320,6 +320,4 @@ void ListFormatter::addNewString(const UnicodeString& pat, UnicodeString& origin
     originalString = result;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(ListFormatter)
-
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/messagepattern.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/messagepattern.cpp
index 18d8a3481e8..de0410b83c1 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/messagepattern.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/messagepattern.cpp
@@ -1174,8 +1174,6 @@ MessagePattern::setParseError(UParseError *parseError, int32_t index) {
     parseError->postContext[length]=0;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(MessagePattern)
-
 // MessageImpl ------------------------------------------------------------- ***
 
 void
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/normalizer2.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/normalizer2.cpp
index c78d0a7610b..a2c27dd1426 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/normalizer2.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/normalizer2.cpp
@@ -50,8 +50,6 @@ Normalizer2::getCombiningClass(UChar32 /*c*/) const {
     return 0;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(Normalizer2)
-
 // Normalizer2 implementation for the old UNORM_NONE.
 class NoopNormalizer2 : public Normalizer2 {
     virtual ~NoopNormalizer2();
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/stringtriebuilder.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/stringtriebuilder.cpp
index 32a931130ce..109fcdc5f8a 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/stringtriebuilder.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/stringtriebuilder.cpp
@@ -381,8 +381,6 @@ StringTrieBuilder::equalNodes(const void *left, const void *right) {
     return *(const Node *)left==*(const Node *)right;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(StringTrieBuilder)
-
 UBool
 StringTrieBuilder::Node::operator==(const Node &other) const {
     return this==&other || (typeid(*this)==typeid(other) && hash==other.hash);
@@ -396,8 +394,6 @@ StringTrieBuilder::Node::markRightEdgesFirst(int32_t edgeNumber) {
     return edgeNumber;
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(StringTrieBuilder::Node)
-
 UBool
 StringTrieBuilder::FinalValueNode::operator==(const Node &other) const {
     if(this==&other) {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/appendable.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/appendable.h
index a90f37bb07a..a6a83b15cf9 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/appendable.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/appendable.h
@@ -140,10 +140,6 @@ public:
                                    int32_t desiredCapacityHint,
                                    UChar *scratch, int32_t scratchCapacity,
                                    int32_t *resultCapacity);
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/idna.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/idna.h
index 70a84166f33..90194a378f3 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/idna.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/idna.h
@@ -254,10 +254,6 @@ public:
     virtual void
     nameToUnicodeUTF8(const StringPiece &name, ByteSink &dest,
                       IDNAInfo &info, UErrorCode &errorCode) const;
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 class UTS46;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/listformatter.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/listformatter.h
index 37042379db6..1e045324738 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/listformatter.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/listformatter.h
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ class U_COMMON_API ListFormatter : public UObject{
     ListFormatter& operator = (const ListFormatter&);
     void addNewString(const UnicodeString& pattern, UnicodeString& originalString,
                       const UnicodeString& newString, UErrorCode& errorCode) const;
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 
     const ListFormatData& data;
 };
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/messagepattern.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/messagepattern.h
index a5204c14380..d6074710e02 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/messagepattern.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/messagepattern.h
@@ -917,9 +917,6 @@ private:
 
     void setParseError(UParseError *parseError, int32_t index);
 
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
-
     UBool init(UErrorCode &errorCode);
     UBool copyStorage(const MessagePattern &other, UErrorCode &errorCode);
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/normalizer2.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/normalizer2.h
index bfca5ab8324..9b9a691ac37 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/normalizer2.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/normalizer2.h
@@ -429,10 +429,6 @@ public:
      * @stable ICU 4.4
      */
     virtual UBool isInert(UChar32 c) const = 0;
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/stringtriebuilder.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/stringtriebuilder.h
index 9cb2ae5ef7e..05fa6e7b516 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/stringtriebuilder.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/stringtriebuilder.h
@@ -239,9 +239,6 @@ protected:
     protected:
         int32_t hash;
         int32_t offset;
-    private:
-        // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-        virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
     };
 
     // This class should not be overridden because
@@ -396,10 +393,6 @@ protected:
     virtual int32_t writeValueAndType(UBool hasValue, int32_t value, int32_t node) = 0;
     /** @internal */
     virtual int32_t writeDeltaTo(int32_t jumpTarget) = 0;
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uobject.h b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uobject.h
index 5f6b1a1e5a7..54ceace626d 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uobject.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/unicode/uobject.h
@@ -59,15 +59,10 @@
  * operator==(). Nothing else should be done with them.
  *
  * \par
- * getDynamicClassID() is declared in the base class of the hierarchy as
- * a pure virtual.  Each concrete subclass implements it in the same way:
+ * In class hierarchies that implement "poor man's RTTI",
+ * each concrete subclass implements getDynamicClassID() in the same way:
  *
  * \code
- *      class Base {
- *      public:
- *          virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const = 0;
- *      }
- *
  *      class Derived {
  *      public:
  *          virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const
@@ -210,10 +205,7 @@ public:
  * and all other public ICU C++ classes
  * are derived from UObject (starting with ICU 2.2).
  *
- * UObject contains common virtual functions like for ICU's "poor man's RTTI".
- * It does not contain default implementations of virtual methods
- * like getDynamicClassID to allow derived classes such as Format
- * to declare these as pure virtual.
+ * UObject contains common virtual functions, in particular a virtual destructor.
  *
  * The clone() function is not available in UObject because it is not
  * implemented by all ICU classes.
@@ -237,21 +229,23 @@ public:
 
     /**
      * ICU4C "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for the actual ICU class.
+     * The base class implementation returns a dummy value.
+     *
+     * Use compiler RTTI rather than ICU's "poor man's RTTI".
+     * Since ICU 4.6, new ICU C++ class hierarchies do not implement "poor man's RTTI".
      *
      * @stable ICU 2.2
      */
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const = 0;
+    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 
 protected:
     // the following functions are protected to prevent instantiation and
     // direct use of UObject itself
 
     // default constructor
-    // commented out because UObject is abstract (see getDynamicClassID)
     // inline UObject() {}
 
     // copy constructor
-    // commented out because UObject is abstract (see getDynamicClassID)
     // inline UObject(const UObject &other) {}
 
 #if 0
@@ -286,19 +280,6 @@ protected:
      * here would be to declare and empty-implement a protected or public one.
     UObject &UObject::operator=(const UObject &);
      */
-
-// Future implementation for RTTI that support subtyping. [alan]
-// 
-//  public:
-//     /**
-//      * @internal
-//      */
-//     static UClassID getStaticClassID();
-// 
-//     /**
-//      * @internal
-//      */
-//     UBool instanceOf(UClassID type) const;
 };
 
 #ifndef U_HIDE_INTERNAL_API
@@ -332,34 +313,6 @@ protected:
         return (UClassID)&classID; \
     }
 
-/**
- * This is a simple macro to express that a class and its subclasses do not offer
- * ICU's "poor man's RTTI".
- * Beginning with ICU 4.6, ICU requires C++ compiler RTTI.
- * This does not go into the header. This should only be used in *.cpp files.
- * Use this with a private getDynamicClassID() in an immediate subclass of UObject.
- *
- * @param myClass The name of the class that needs RTTI defined.
- * @internal
- */
-#define UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(myClass) \
-    UClassID myClass::getDynamicClassID() const { return NULL; }
-
-// /**
-//  * This macro adds ICU RTTI to an ICU concrete class implementation.
-//  * This macro should be invoked in *.cpp files.  The corresponding
-//  * header should declare getDynamicClassID and getStaticClassID.
-//  *
-//  * @param myClass The name of the class that needs RTTI defined.
-//  * @param myParent The name of the myClass's parent.
-//  * @internal
-//  */
-/*#define UOBJECT_DEFINE_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(myClass, myParent) \
-    UOBJECT_DEFINE_ABSTRACT_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(myClass, myParent) \
-    UClassID myClass::getDynamicClassID() const { \
-        return myClass::getStaticClassID(); \
-    }
-*/
 #endif  /* U_HIDE_INTERNAL_API */
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/uobject.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/uobject.cpp
index 1d8f6dcb555..900e0345952 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/uobject.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/uobject.cpp
@@ -91,23 +91,7 @@ void U_EXPORT2 UMemory::operator delete(void* p, const char* /*file*/, int /*lin
 
 UObject::~UObject() {}
 
-// Future implementation for RTTI that support subtyping. [alan]
-// 
-// UClassID UObject::getStaticClassID() {
-//     return (UClassID) NULL;
-// }
-// 
-// UBool UObject::instanceOf(UClassID type) const {
-//     UClassID c = getDynamicClassID();
-//     for (;;) {
-//         if (c == type) {
-//             return TRUE;
-//         } else if (c == (UClassID) NULL) {
-//             return FALSE;
-//         }
-//         c = * (UClassID*) c;
-//     }
-// }
+UClassID UObject::getDynamicClassID() const { return NULL; }
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/uts46.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/uts46.cpp
index cddc039ea18..8e6c8ff1e7d 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/uts46.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/uts46.cpp
@@ -109,8 +109,6 @@ IDNA::nameToUnicodeUTF8(const StringPiece &name, ByteSink &dest,
     }
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(IDNA)
-
 // UTS46 class declaration ------------------------------------------------- ***
 
 class UTS46 : public IDNA {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/alphaindex.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/alphaindex.cpp
index 93f1a7174bc..a9c4d7a5e60 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/alphaindex.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/alphaindex.cpp
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@
 //#include <iostream>
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(AlphabeticIndex)
-
 // Forward Declarations
 static int32_t U_CALLCONV
 PreferenceComparator(const void *context, const void *left, const void *right);
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/fpositer.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/fpositer.cpp
index 69712642b22..3481252a6e3 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/fpositer.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/fpositer.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
 ******************************************************************************
-* Copyright (C) 2009-2010, International Business Machines Corporation and
+* Copyright (C) 2009-2012, International Business Machines Corporation and
 * others. All Rights Reserved.
 ******************************************************************************
 *   Date        Name        Description
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(FieldPositionIterator)
-
 FieldPositionIterator::~FieldPositionIterator() {
   delete data;
   data = NULL;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/gender.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/gender.cpp
index 1d343eb7425..4eac9e17740 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/gender.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/gender.cpp
@@ -63,8 +63,6 @@ GenderInfo::GenderInfo() {
 GenderInfo::~GenderInfo() {
 }
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(GenderInfo)
-
 const GenderInfo* GenderInfo::getInstance(const Locale& locale, UErrorCode& status) {
   if (U_FAILURE(status)) {
     return NULL;
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/locdspnm.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/locdspnm.cpp
index 1d1807aff22..9b63a3ed33a 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/locdspnm.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/locdspnm.cpp
@@ -149,8 +149,6 @@ ICUDataTable::getNoFallback(const char* tableKey, const char* subTableKey, const
 
 LocaleDisplayNames::~LocaleDisplayNames() {}
 
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(LocaleDisplayNames)
-
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 #if 0  // currently unused
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/msgfmt.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/msgfmt.cpp
index 3c74aa5be05..3c2c7c65a1b 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/msgfmt.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/msgfmt.cpp
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
 // -------------------------------------
 UOBJECT_DEFINE_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(MessageFormat)
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(MessageFormat::DummyFormat)
 UOBJECT_DEFINE_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(FormatNameEnumeration)
 
 //--------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/tznames.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/tznames.cpp
index b7fc35c20b0..923eb7ae9e3 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/tznames.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/tznames.cpp
@@ -303,8 +303,6 @@ TimeZoneNamesDelegate::find(const UnicodeString& text, int32_t start, uint32_t t
 // ---------------------------------------------------
 // TimeZoneNames base class
 // ---------------------------------------------------
-UOBJECT_DEFINE_NO_RTTI_IMPLEMENTATION(TimeZoneNames)
-
 TimeZoneNames::~TimeZoneNames() {
 }
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/alphaindex.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/alphaindex.h
index 7b7d18c356f..f493ec66c77 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/alphaindex.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/alphaindex.h
@@ -511,9 +511,6 @@ class U_I18N_API AlphabeticIndex: public UObject {
     virtual AlphabeticIndex &resetRecordIterator();
 
 private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
-
      /**
       * No Copy constructor.
       * @internal
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/fpositer.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/fpositer.h
index ecaa77728ac..b842161a69b 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/fpositer.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/fpositer.h
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
 ********************************************************************************
-*   Copyright (C) 2010, International Business Machines
+*   Copyright (C) 2010-2012, International Business Machines
 *   Corporation and others.  All Rights Reserved.
 ********************************************************************************
 *
@@ -108,9 +108,6 @@ private:
 
     UVector32 *data;
     int32_t pos;
-
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/gender.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/gender.h
index 3b2ad006e67..a9171ed9f2a 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/gender.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/gender.h
@@ -76,12 +76,6 @@ public:
 private:
     int32_t _style;
 
-
-    /**
-     * No "poor man's RTTI"
-     */
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
-
     /**
      * Copy constructor. One object per locale invariant. Clients
      * must never copy GenderInfo objects.
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/locdspnm.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/locdspnm.h
index cdd2bb8f3fe..65c4c8ea2f8 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/locdspnm.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/locdspnm.h
@@ -193,10 +193,6 @@ public:
      */
     virtual UnicodeString& keyValueDisplayName(const char* key, const char* value,
                            UnicodeString& result) const = 0;
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 inline LocaleDisplayNames* LocaleDisplayNames::createInstance(const Locale& locale) {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/msgfmt.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/msgfmt.h
index 60ba1538574..9988e0026b6 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/msgfmt.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/msgfmt.h
@@ -1087,7 +1087,6 @@ private:
         virtual void parseObject(const UnicodeString&,
                                  Formattable&,
                                  ParsePosition&) const;
-        virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
     };
 
     friend class MessageFormatAdapter; // getFormatTypeList() access
diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tznames.h b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tznames.h
index 2de296d50ee..8211b3b1ab9 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tznames.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/unicode/tznames.h
@@ -363,10 +363,6 @@ public:
      * @internal
      */
     virtual MatchInfoCollection* find(const UnicodeString& text, int32_t start, uint32_t types, UErrorCode& status) const = 0;
-
-private:
-    // No ICU "poor man's RTTI" for this class nor its subclasses.
-    virtual UClassID getDynamicClassID() const;
 };
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/uobjtest.cpp b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/uobjtest.cpp
index 11f1293c5b1..e607f2f32b0 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/test/intltest/uobjtest.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/test/intltest/uobjtest.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /********************************************************************
- * COPYRIGHT: 
+ * COPYRIGHT:
  * Copyright (c) 1997-2012, International Business Machines Corporation and
  * others. All Rights Reserved.
- * Copyright (C) 2010 , Yahoo! Inc. 
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 , Yahoo! Inc.
  ********************************************************************/
 
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -325,6 +325,8 @@ void UObjectTest::testIDs()
     ids_count = 0;
     UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
 
+    TESTCLASSID_NONE_CTOR(UObject, ());
+
 #if !UCONFIG_NO_TRANSLITERATION || !UCONFIG_NO_FORMATTING
     UParseError parseError;
 #endif