diff --git a/src/core/layertree/qgslayertree.cpp b/src/core/layertree/qgslayertree.cpp
index 9c1e8872a41d..e20375e6540b 100644
--- a/src/core/layertree/qgslayertree.cpp
+++ b/src/core/layertree/qgslayertree.cpp
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ QgsLayerTree *QgsLayerTree::readXml( QDomElement &element )
 void QgsLayerTree::writeXml( QDomElement &parentElement )
 {
   QDomDocument doc = parentElement.ownerDocument();
-  QDomElement elem = doc.createElement( QStringLiteral( "layer-tree" ) );
+  QDomElement elem = doc.createElement( QStringLiteral( "layer-tree-group" ) );
 
   writeCommonXml( elem );
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsmapthemecollection.cpp b/src/core/qgsmapthemecollection.cpp
index ddc9fd48177f..4cc5da4ec5f5 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsmapthemecollection.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsmapthemecollection.cpp
@@ -193,7 +193,6 @@ QList<QgsMapLayer *> QgsMapThemeCollection::masterVisibleLayers() const
     // no project layer order set
     return visibleLayers;
   }
-
   else
   {
     QList< QgsMapLayer * > orderedVisibleLayers;
diff --git a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
index fdefc49f9155..16cccebb46e6 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsproject.cpp
@@ -846,23 +846,14 @@ bool QgsProject::read()
 
   mRootGroup->setCustomProperty( QStringLiteral( "loading" ), 1 );
 
-  QDomElement layerTreeElem = doc->documentElement().firstChildElement( QStringLiteral( "layer-tree" ) );
+  QDomElement layerTreeElem = doc->documentElement().firstChildElement( QStringLiteral( "layer-tree-group" ) );
   if ( !layerTreeElem.isNull() )
   {
-    // read the tree but do not resolve the references (we have not loaded the layers yet)
     mRootGroup->readChildrenFromXml( layerTreeElem );
   }
   else
   {
-    QDomElement layerTreeGroupElem = doc->documentElement().firstChildElement( QStringLiteral( "layer-tree-group" ) );
-    if ( !layerTreeGroupElem.isNull() )
-    {
-      mRootGroup->readChildrenFromXml( layerTreeGroupElem );
-    }
-    else
-    {
-      QgsLayerTreeUtils::readOldLegend( mRootGroup, doc->documentElement().firstChildElement( QStringLiteral( "legend" ) ) );
-    }
+    QgsLayerTreeUtils::readOldLegend( mRootGroup, doc->documentElement().firstChildElement( QStringLiteral( "legend" ) ) );
   }
 
   mLayerTreeRegistryBridge->setEnabled( false );
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_layer_dependencies.py b/tests/src/python/test_layer_dependencies.py
index 7d2da39817dc..8b99f60554b3 100644
--- a/tests/src/python/test_layer_dependencies.py
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_layer_dependencies.py
@@ -202,8 +202,8 @@ def test_layerDefinitionRewriteId(self):
                 newPointsLayer = l.layer()
             elif l.layerId().startswith('lines'):
                 newLinesLayer = l.layer()
-        self.assertFalse(newPointsLayer is None)
-        self.assertFalse(newLinesLayer is None)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(newPointsLayer)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(newLinesLayer)
         self.assertTrue(newLinesLayer.id() in [dep.layerId() for dep in newPointsLayer.dependencies()])
 
         self.pointsLayer.setDependencies([])