diff --git a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestTermVectorsReader.java b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestTermVectorsReader.java
index 53067ca92af..5a627d45a87 100644
--- a/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestTermVectorsReader.java
+++ b/lucene/core/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestTermVectorsReader.java
@@ -292,8 +292,7 @@ public class TestTermVectorsReader extends LuceneTestCase {
       //System.out.println("Term: " + term);
       assertEquals(testTerms[i], term);
       assertNotNull(termsEnum.postings(null, null));
-      // nocommit: check
-      assertNull(termsEnum.postings(null, null, PostingsEnum.ALL)); // no pos
+      assertNotNull(termsEnum.postings(null, null, PostingsEnum.ALL));
     }
     reader.close();
   }
diff --git a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/BaseTermVectorsFormatTestCase.java b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/BaseTermVectorsFormatTestCase.java
index ccbc1577660..1d1a07c07e1 100644
--- a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/BaseTermVectorsFormatTestCase.java
+++ b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/BaseTermVectorsFormatTestCase.java
@@ -453,15 +453,12 @@ public abstract class BaseTermVectorsFormatTestCase extends BaseIndexFileFormatT
 
       bits.clear(0);
       PostingsEnum docsAndPositionsEnum = termsEnum.postings(bits, random().nextBoolean() ? null : this.docsEnum.get(), PostingsEnum.POSITIONS);
-      assertEquals(ft.storeTermVectorOffsets() || ft.storeTermVectorPositions(), docsAndPositionsEnum != null);
-      // nocommit: check
-      if (docsAndPositionsEnum != null) {
+      if (terms.hasPositions()) {
         assertEquals(PostingsEnum.NO_MORE_DOCS, docsAndPositionsEnum.nextDoc());
       }
       bits.set(0);
 
       docsAndPositionsEnum = termsEnum.postings(random().nextBoolean() ? bits : null, random().nextBoolean() ? null : docsAndPositionsEnum, PostingsEnum.POSITIONS);
-      assertEquals(ft.storeTermVectorOffsets() || ft.storeTermVectorPositions(), docsAndPositionsEnum != null);
       if (terms.hasPositions() || terms.hasOffsets()) {
         assertEquals(0, docsAndPositionsEnum.nextDoc());
         final int freq = docsAndPositionsEnum.freq();
diff --git a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/util/TestUtil.java b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/util/TestUtil.java
index 0d81a8ee4e6..bb7cf454c8b 100644
--- a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/util/TestUtil.java
+++ b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/util/TestUtil.java
@@ -1087,9 +1087,10 @@ public final class TestUtil {
     return docs(random, termsEnum, liveDocs, reuse, flags);
   }
 
-  // Returns a DocsEnum from a positioned TermsEnum, but
-  // randomly sometimes uses a DocsAndFreqsEnum, DocsAndPositionsEnum.
+  // Returns a PostingsEnum with random features available
   public static PostingsEnum docs(Random random, TermsEnum termsEnum, Bits liveDocs, PostingsEnum reuse, int flags) throws IOException {
+    // TODO: simplify this method? it would be easier to randomly either use the flags passed, or do the random selection,
+    // FREQS should be part fo the random selection instead of outside on its own?
     if (random.nextBoolean()) {
       if (random.nextBoolean()) {
         final int posFlags;
@@ -1099,11 +1100,7 @@ public final class TestUtil {
           case 2: posFlags = PostingsEnum.PAYLOADS; break;
           default: posFlags = PostingsEnum.ALL; break;
         }
-        PostingsEnum docsAndPositions = termsEnum.postings(liveDocs, null, posFlags);
-        // nocommit: check
-        if (docsAndPositions != null) {
-          return docsAndPositions;
-        }
+        return termsEnum.postings(liveDocs, null, posFlags);
       }
       flags |= PostingsEnum.FREQS;
     }