diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS.js
index 89df923470..ca4ee5e9d7 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ OpenLayers.Protocol.WFS = function(options) {
  *     
  * This function is designed to auto-configure <url>, <featureType>,
  *     <featurePrefix> and <srsName> for WFS <version> 1.1.0. Note that
- *     srsName matching with the WMS layer will not work with WFS 1.0.0..
+ *     srsName matching with the WMS layer will not work with WFS 1.0.0.
  * 
  * Parameters:
  * layer - {<OpenLayers.Layer.WMS>} WMS layer that has a matching WFS
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS/v1.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS/v1.js
index 669c02990b..905dadcf60 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS/v1.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Protocol/WFS/v1.js
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ OpenLayers.Protocol.WFS.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Protocol, {
     /**
      * Property: geometryName
      * {String} Name of the geometry attribute for features.  Default is
-     *     "the_geom".
+     *     "the_geom" for WFS <version> 1.0, and null for higher versions.
      */
     geometryName: "the_geom",
     
@@ -102,19 +102,16 @@ OpenLayers.Protocol.WFS.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Protocol, {
      *     for this featureType).
      * featurePrefix - {String} Feature namespace alias (optional - only used
      *     for writing if featureNS is provided).  Default is 'feature'.
-     * geometryName - {String} Name of geometry attribute.  If featureNS is not
-     *     configured, the default is null to avoid failing on BBOX filters,
-     *     and it will be set on <read>. Otherwise, the default is 'the_geom'.
+     * geometryName - {String} Name of geometry attribute.  The default is
+     *     'the_geom' for WFS <version> 1.0, and null for higher versions. If
+     *     null, it will be set to the name of the first geometry found in the
+     *     first read operation.
      * multi - {Boolean} If set to true, geometries will be casted to Multi
      *     geometries before they are written in a transaction. No casting will
      *     be done when reading features.
      */
     initialize: function(options) {
         OpenLayers.Protocol.prototype.initialize.apply(this, [options]);
-        if (!options.geometryName && !options.featureNS) {
-            // poorly configured protocol - try to not fail on BBOX filters
-            this.geometryName = null;
-        }
         if(!options.format) {
             this.format = OpenLayers.Format.WFST(OpenLayers.Util.extend({
                 version: this.version,
@@ -126,6 +123,9 @@ OpenLayers.Protocol.WFS.v1 = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Protocol, {
                 schema: this.schema
             }, this.formatOptions));
         }
+        if (!options.geometryName && parseFloat(this.format.version) > 1.0) {
+            this.setGeometryName(null);
+        }
     },
     
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Protocol/WFS.html b/tests/Protocol/WFS.html
index b142b1d34d..cc56e459bc 100644
--- a/tests/Protocol/WFS.html
+++ b/tests/Protocol/WFS.html
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@
         var protocol = new OpenLayers.Protocol.WFS({
             url: "http://some.url.org",
             featurePrefix: "topp",
-            featureType: "tasmania_roads"
+            featureType: "tasmania_roads",
+            geometryName: null
         });
 
         protocol.parseResponse({responseText: document.getElementById("query_response").firstChild.nodeValue});
@@ -299,7 +300,7 @@
     }
 
     function test_fromWMSLayer(t) {
-        t.plan(8);
+        t.plan(9);
         var map = new OpenLayers.Map("map", {
             projection: "EPSG:1234"
         });
@@ -313,6 +314,7 @@
         t.eq(protocol.featureType, "states", "typeName correctly extracted");
         t.eq(protocol.srsName, "EPSG:1234", "srsName set correctly");
         t.eq(protocol.version, "1.1.0", "version set correctly");
+        t.eq(protocol.format.geometryName, null, "format's geometryName set to null");
 
         layer.params["LAYERS"] = ["topp:street_centerline", "topp:states"];
         layer.projection = new OpenLayers.Projection("EPSG:900913");