diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 536dd21f102..c01a61baf1f 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ Changes in runtime behavior
       ...
     </code>
 
+ 3. LUCENE-1604: IndexReader.norms(String field) is now allowed to
+    return null if the field has no norms, as long as you've
+    previously called IndexReader.setDisableFakeNorms(true).  This
+    setting now defaults to false (to preserve the fake norms back
+    compatible behavior) but in 3.0 will be hardwired to true.  (Shon
+    Vella via Mike McCandless).
+
 API Changes
 
 1. LUCENE-1419: Add expert API to set custom indexing chain. This API is 
diff --git a/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestEmptyIndex.java b/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestEmptyIndex.java
index 9e3786dc8b9..69fcb460bcd 100644
--- a/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestEmptyIndex.java
+++ b/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestEmptyIndex.java
@@ -72,13 +72,15 @@ public class TestEmptyIndex extends TestCase {
   private void testNorms(IndexReader r) throws IOException {
     byte[] norms;
     norms = r.norms("foo");
-    assertNotNull(norms);
-    assertEquals(0, norms.length);
-    norms = new byte[10];
-    Arrays.fill(norms, (byte)10);
-    r.norms("foo", norms, 10);
-    for (byte b : norms) {
-      assertEquals((byte)10, b);
+    if (!r.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+      assertNotNull(norms);
+      assertEquals(0, norms.length);
+      norms = new byte[10];
+      Arrays.fill(norms, (byte)10);
+      r.norms("foo", norms, 10);
+      for (byte b : norms) {
+        assertEquals((byte)10, b);
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestIndicesEquals.java b/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestIndicesEquals.java
index 8c332b5782c..2cca53b5524 100644
--- a/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestIndicesEquals.java
+++ b/contrib/instantiated/src/test/org/apache/lucene/store/instantiated/TestIndicesEquals.java
@@ -247,39 +247,41 @@ public class TestIndicesEquals extends TestCase {
       byte[] aprioriNorms = aprioriReader.norms((String) field);
       byte[] testNorms = testReader.norms((String) field);
 
-      assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
+      if (!aprioriReader.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+        assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
 
-      for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
-        assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
-      }
+        for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
+          assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
+        }
 
-      // test norms as used by multireader
+        // test norms as used by multireader
 
-      aprioriNorms = new byte[aprioriReader.maxDoc()];
-      aprioriReader.norms((String) field, aprioriNorms, 0);
+        aprioriNorms = new byte[aprioriReader.maxDoc()];
+        aprioriReader.norms((String) field, aprioriNorms, 0);
 
-      testNorms = new byte[testReader.maxDoc()];
-      testReader.norms((String) field, testNorms, 0);
+        testNorms = new byte[testReader.maxDoc()];
+        testReader.norms((String) field, testNorms, 0);
 
-      assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
+        assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
 
-      for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
-        assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
-      }
+        for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
+          assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
+        }
 
 
-      // test norms as used by multireader
+        // test norms as used by multireader
 
-      aprioriNorms = new byte[aprioriReader.maxDoc() + 10];
-      aprioriReader.norms((String) field, aprioriNorms, 10);
+        aprioriNorms = new byte[aprioriReader.maxDoc() + 10];
+        aprioriReader.norms((String) field, aprioriNorms, 10);
 
-      testNorms = new byte[testReader.maxDoc() + 10];
-      testReader.norms((String) field, testNorms, 10);
+        testNorms = new byte[testReader.maxDoc() + 10];
+        testReader.norms((String) field, testNorms, 10);
 
-      assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
-
-      for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
-        assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
+        assertEquals(aprioriNorms.length, testNorms.length);
+        
+        for (int i = 0; i < aprioriNorms.length; i++) {
+          assertEquals("norms does not equals for field " + field + " in document " + i, aprioriNorms[i], testNorms[i]);
+        }
       }
 
     }
diff --git a/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestFieldNormModifier.java b/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestFieldNormModifier.java
index 7bc5da71e62..a4f248c5da3 100644
--- a/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestFieldNormModifier.java
+++ b/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestFieldNormModifier.java
@@ -92,8 +92,12 @@ public class TestFieldNormModifier extends TestCase {
     
     // sanity check, norms should all be 1
     assertTrue("Whoops we have norms?", !r.hasNorms("nonorm"));
-    for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
-      assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
+    if (!r.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+      for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
+        assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
+      }
+    } else {
+      assertNull(norms);
     }
     
     r.close();
@@ -110,8 +114,12 @@ public class TestFieldNormModifier extends TestCase {
     
     norms = r.norms("nonorm");
     assertTrue("Whoops we have norms?", !r.hasNorms("nonorm"));
-    for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
-      assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
+    if (!r.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+      for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
+        assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
+      }
+    } else {
+      assertNull(norms);
     }
 
     r.close();
diff --git a/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/misc/TestLengthNormModifier.java b/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/misc/TestLengthNormModifier.java
index 95610db7ae8..c2f74f11e22 100644
--- a/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/misc/TestLengthNormModifier.java
+++ b/contrib/miscellaneous/src/test/org/apache/lucene/misc/TestLengthNormModifier.java
@@ -98,9 +98,13 @@ public class TestLengthNormModifier extends TestCase {
 
 	// sanity check, norms should all be 1
 	assertTrue("Whoops we have norms?", !r.hasNorms("nonorm"));
-	for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
+        if (!r.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+          for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
 	    assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
-	}
+          }
+        } else {
+          assertNull(norms);
+        }
 
 	r.close();
 	
@@ -116,9 +120,13 @@ public class TestLengthNormModifier extends TestCase {
 	
 	norms = r.norms("nonorm");
 	assertTrue("Whoops we have norms?", !r.hasNorms("nonorm"));
-	for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
+        if (!r.getDisableFakeNorms()) {
+          for (int i = 0; i< norms.length; i++) {
 	    assertEquals(""+i, DEFAULT_NORM, norms[i]);
-	}
+          }
+        } else {
+          assertNull(norms);
+        }
 
 	r.close();
 	
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/DirectoryIndexReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/DirectoryIndexReader.java
index 03792e376fd..52237f2f620 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/DirectoryIndexReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/DirectoryIndexReader.java
@@ -227,7 +227,9 @@ abstract class DirectoryIndexReader extends IndexReader implements Cloneable {
       // TODO: right now we *always* make a new reader; in
       // the future we could have write make some effort to
       // detect that no changes have occurred
-      return writer.getReader();
+      IndexReader reader = writer.getReader();
+      reader.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
+      return reader;
     }
 
     if (commit == null) {
@@ -298,6 +300,7 @@ abstract class DirectoryIndexReader extends IndexReader implements Cloneable {
       } else {
         reader = (DirectoryIndexReader) finder.doBody(commit.getSegmentsFileName());
       }
+      reader.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
     } finally {
       if (myCloseDirectory) {
         assert directory instanceof FSDirectory;
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexReader.java
index 9b3bb7c94fb..cafad750b04 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexReader.java
@@ -116,6 +116,8 @@ public abstract class IndexReader implements Cloneable {
   
   private volatile int refCount;
 
+  private boolean disableFakeNorms = false;
+
   /** Expert: returns the current refCount for this reader */
   public synchronized int getRefCount() {
     return refCount;
@@ -792,6 +794,9 @@ public abstract class IndexReader implements Cloneable {
    * int) length normalization}.  Thus, to preserve the length normalization
    * values when resetting this, one should base the new value upon the old.
    *
+   * <b>NOTE:</b> If this field does not store norms, then
+   * this method call will silently do nothing.
+   *
    * @see #norms(String)
    * @see Similarity#decodeNorm(byte)
    * @throws StaleReaderException if the index has changed
@@ -1275,4 +1280,26 @@ public abstract class IndexReader implements Cloneable {
   public long getUniqueTermCount() throws IOException {
     throw new UnsupportedOperationException("this reader does not implement getUniqueTermCount()");
   }
+
+  /** Expert: Return the state of the flag that disables fakes norms in favor of representing the absence of field norms with null.
+   * @return true if fake norms are disabled
+   * @deprecated This currently defaults to false (to remain
+   * back-compatible), but in 3.0 it will be hardwired to
+   * true, meaning the norms() methods will return null for
+   * fields that had disabled norms.
+   */
+  public boolean getDisableFakeNorms() {
+    return disableFakeNorms;
+  }
+
+  /** Expert: Set the state of the flag that disables fakes norms in favor of representing the absence of field norms with null.
+   * @param disableFakeNorms true to disable fake norms, false to preserve the legacy behavior
+   * @deprecated This currently defaults to false (to remain
+   * back-compatible), but in 3.0 it will be hardwired to
+   * true, meaning the norms() methods will return null for
+   * fields that had disabled norms.
+   */
+  public void setDisableFakeNorms(boolean disableFakeNorms) {
+    this.disableFakeNorms = disableFakeNorms;
+ }
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiReader.java
index 2849a92ea1d..13aac0bb10b 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiReader.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.apache.lucene.index;
  */
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.document.FieldSelector;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MultiSegmentReader.MultiTermDocs;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MultiSegmentReader.MultiTermEnum;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MultiSegmentReader.MultiTermPositions;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.DefaultSimilarity;
 
 /** An IndexReader which reads multiple indexes, appending their content.
  *
@@ -179,6 +181,7 @@ public class MultiReader extends IndexReader implements Cloneable {
       }
       MultiReader mr = new MultiReader(newSubReaders);
       mr.decrefOnClose = newDecrefOnClose;
+      mr.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
       return mr;
     } else {
       return this;
@@ -288,7 +291,7 @@ public class MultiReader extends IndexReader implements Cloneable {
     if (bytes != null)
       return bytes;          // cache hit
     if (!hasNorms(field))
-      return fakeNorms();
+      return getDisableFakeNorms() ? null : fakeNorms();
 
     bytes = new byte[maxDoc()];
     for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++)
@@ -301,12 +304,18 @@ public class MultiReader extends IndexReader implements Cloneable {
     throws IOException {
     ensureOpen();
     byte[] bytes = (byte[])normsCache.get(field);
-    if (bytes==null && !hasNorms(field)) bytes=fakeNorms();
-    if (bytes != null)                            // cache hit
-      System.arraycopy(bytes, 0, result, offset, maxDoc());
-
     for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++)      // read from segments
       subReaders[i].norms(field, result, offset + starts[i]);
+
+    if (bytes==null && !hasNorms(field)) {
+      Arrays.fill(result, offset, result.length, DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f));
+    } else if (bytes != null) {                         // cache hit
+      System.arraycopy(bytes, 0, result, offset, maxDoc());
+    } else {
+      for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++) {     // read from segments
+        subReaders[i].norms(field, result, offset + starts[i]);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   protected void doSetNorm(int n, String field, byte value)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiSegmentReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiSegmentReader.java
index 0d61359bad8..c14555b4080 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiSegmentReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/MultiSegmentReader.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.apache.lucene.index;
  */
 
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.HashSet;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.document.Document;
 import org.apache.lucene.document.FieldSelector;
+import org.apache.lucene.search.DefaultSimilarity;
 import org.apache.lucene.store.Directory;
 
 /** 
@@ -262,15 +264,18 @@ class MultiSegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader implements Cloneable {
   }
 
   protected synchronized DirectoryIndexReader doReopen(SegmentInfos infos, boolean doClone, boolean openReadOnly) throws CorruptIndexException, IOException {
-    if (infos.size() == 1) {
+    DirectoryIndexReader reader;
+	if (infos.size() == 1) {
       // The index has only one segment now, so we can't refresh the MultiSegmentReader.
       // Return a new [ReadOnly]SegmentReader instead
-      return SegmentReader.get(openReadOnly, infos, infos.info(0), false);
+      reader = SegmentReader.get(openReadOnly, infos, infos.info(0), false);
     } else if (openReadOnly) {
-      return new ReadOnlyMultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, subReaders, starts, normsCache, doClone);
+      reader = new ReadOnlyMultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, subReaders, starts, normsCache, doClone);
     } else {
-      return new MultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, subReaders, starts, normsCache, false, doClone);
-    }            
+      reader = new MultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, subReaders, starts, normsCache, false, doClone);
+    }
+    reader.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
+    return reader;
   }
 
   public TermFreqVector[] getTermFreqVectors(int n) throws IOException {
@@ -397,7 +402,7 @@ class MultiSegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader implements Cloneable {
     if (bytes != null)
       return bytes;          // cache hit
     if (!hasNorms(field))
-      return fakeNorms();
+      return getDisableFakeNorms() ? null : fakeNorms();
 
     bytes = new byte[maxDoc()];
     for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++)
@@ -410,12 +415,15 @@ class MultiSegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader implements Cloneable {
     throws IOException {
     ensureOpen();
     byte[] bytes = (byte[])normsCache.get(field);
-    if (bytes==null && !hasNorms(field)) bytes=fakeNorms();
-    if (bytes != null)                            // cache hit
+    if (bytes==null && !hasNorms(field)) {
+      Arrays.fill(result, offset, result.length, DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f));
+    } else if (bytes != null) {                           // cache hit
       System.arraycopy(bytes, 0, result, offset, maxDoc());
-
-    for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++)      // read from segments
-      subReaders[i].norms(field, result, offset + starts[i]);
+    } else {
+      for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++) {      // read from segments
+        subReaders[i].norms(field, result, offset + starts[i]);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   protected void doSetNorm(int n, String field, byte value)
@@ -514,6 +522,12 @@ class MultiSegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader implements Cloneable {
       throw new IllegalStateException("no readers");
   }
 
+  public void setDisableFakeNorms(boolean disableFakeNorms) {
+    super.setDisableFakeNorms(disableFakeNorms);
+    for (int i = 0; i < subReaders.length; i++)
+        subReaders[i].setDisableFakeNorms(disableFakeNorms);
+  }
+
   static class MultiTermEnum extends TermEnum {
     private SegmentMergeQueue queue;
   
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/SegmentReader.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/SegmentReader.java
index c33baa9e52c..2ee1ae41b53 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/SegmentReader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/SegmentReader.java
@@ -629,11 +629,11 @@ class SegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader {
       }
     } else {
       if (openReadOnly)
-        return new ReadOnlyMultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, new SegmentReader[] {this}, null, null, doClone);
+        newReader = new ReadOnlyMultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, new SegmentReader[] {this}, null, null, doClone);
       else
-        return new MultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, new SegmentReader[] {this}, null, null, false, doClone);
+        newReader = new MultiSegmentReader(directory, infos, closeDirectory, new SegmentReader[] {this}, null, null, false, doClone);
     }
-    
+    newReader.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
     return newReader;
   }
   
@@ -708,6 +708,7 @@ class SegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader {
         }
       }
 
+      clone.setDisableFakeNorms(getDisableFakeNorms());
       clone.norms = new HashMap();
 
       // Clone norms
@@ -1017,6 +1018,7 @@ class SegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader {
 
   private byte[] ones;
   private byte[] fakeNorms() {
+    assert !getDisableFakeNorms();
     if (ones==null) ones=createFakeNorms(maxDoc());
     return ones;
   }
@@ -1032,7 +1034,7 @@ class SegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader {
   public synchronized byte[] norms(String field) throws IOException {
     ensureOpen();
     byte[] bytes = getNorms(field);
-    if (bytes==null) bytes=fakeNorms();
+    if (bytes==null && !getDisableFakeNorms()) bytes=fakeNorms();
     return bytes;
   }
 
@@ -1053,7 +1055,7 @@ class SegmentReader extends DirectoryIndexReader {
     ensureOpen();
     Norm norm = (Norm) norms.get(field);
     if (norm == null) {
-      System.arraycopy(fakeNorms(), 0, bytes, offset, maxDoc());
+      Arrays.fill(bytes, offset, bytes.length, DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f));
       return;
     }
   
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/MultiPhraseQuery.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/MultiPhraseQuery.java
index 2947ba3dfbc..04be80c4c90 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/MultiPhraseQuery.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/MultiPhraseQuery.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexReader;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.MultipleTermPositions;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.TermPositions;
-import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.ToStringUtils;
 
 /**
@@ -225,7 +224,7 @@ public class MultiPhraseQuery extends Query {
       Explanation fieldNormExpl = new Explanation();
       byte[] fieldNorms = reader.norms(field);
       float fieldNorm =
-        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 0.0f;
+        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 1.0f;
       fieldNormExpl.setValue(fieldNorm);
       fieldNormExpl.setDescription("fieldNorm(field="+field+", doc="+doc+")");
       fieldExpl.addDetail(fieldNormExpl);
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseQuery.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseQuery.java
index 806243a4a95..db850a8f71b 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseQuery.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseQuery.java
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public class PhraseQuery extends Query {
       Explanation fieldNormExpl = new Explanation();
       byte[] fieldNorms = reader.norms(field);
       float fieldNorm =
-        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 0.0f;
+        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 1.0f;
       fieldNormExpl.setValue(fieldNorm);
       fieldNormExpl.setDescription("fieldNorm(field="+field+", doc="+doc+")");
       fieldExpl.addDetail(fieldNormExpl);
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseScorer.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseScorer.java
index f27c8649f37..7e5e720ad28 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseScorer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/PhraseScorer.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ abstract class PhraseScorer extends Scorer {
   public float score() throws IOException {
     //System.out.println("scoring " + first.doc);
     float raw = getSimilarity().tf(freq) * value; // raw score
-    return raw * Similarity.decodeNorm(norms[first.doc]); // normalize
+    return norms == null ? raw : raw * Similarity.decodeNorm(norms[first.doc]); // normalize
   }
 
   public boolean skipTo(int target) throws IOException {
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermQuery.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermQuery.java
index cb63eb896ae..6f7c0e3750e 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermQuery.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermQuery.java
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ public class TermQuery extends Query {
       Explanation fieldNormExpl = new Explanation();
       byte[] fieldNorms = reader.norms(field);
       float fieldNorm =
-        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 0.0f;
+        fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 1.0f;
       fieldNormExpl.setValue(fieldNorm);
       fieldNormExpl.setDescription("fieldNorm(field="+field+", doc="+doc+")");
       fieldExpl.addDetail(fieldNormExpl);
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermScorer.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermScorer.java
index 1acc13bb4c8..35928a1fcc3 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermScorer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/TermScorer.java
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ final class TermScorer extends Scorer {
       ? scoreCache[f]                             // cache hit
       : getSimilarity().tf(f)*weightValue;        // cache miss
 
-    return raw * SIM_NORM_DECODER[norms[doc] & 0xFF]; // normalize for field
+    return norms == null ? raw : raw * SIM_NORM_DECODER[norms[doc] & 0xFF]; // normalize for field
   }
 
   /** Skips to the first match beyond the current whose document number is
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanScorer.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanScorer.java
index 5399e2ba9e9..2432be83ee8 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanScorer.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanScorer.java
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public class SpanScorer extends Scorer {
 
   public float score() throws IOException {
     float raw = getSimilarity().tf(freq) * value; // raw score
-    return raw * Similarity.decodeNorm(norms[doc]); // normalize
+    return norms == null? raw : raw * Similarity.decodeNorm(norms[doc]); // normalize
   }
 
   public Explanation explain(final int doc) throws IOException {
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanWeight.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanWeight.java
index aa8bfc18343..b0037fa9ebf 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanWeight.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/search/spans/SpanWeight.java
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ public class SpanWeight implements Weight {
     Explanation fieldNormExpl = new Explanation();
     byte[] fieldNorms = reader.norms(field);
     float fieldNorm =
-      fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 0.0f;
+      fieldNorms!=null ? Similarity.decodeNorm(fieldNorms[doc]) : 1.0f;
     fieldNormExpl.setValue(fieldNorm);
     fieldNormExpl.setDescription("fieldNorm(field="+field+", doc="+doc+")");
     fieldExpl.addDetail(fieldNormExpl);
diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexReader.java b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexReader.java
index e45c740bf1f..24adaa39aa2 100644
--- a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexReader.java
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestIndexReader.java
@@ -1377,10 +1377,17 @@ public class TestIndexReader extends LuceneTestCase
         String curField = (String) it1.next();
         byte[] norms1 = index1.norms(curField);
         byte[] norms2 = index2.norms(curField);
-        assertEquals(norms1.length, norms2.length);
-        for (int i = 0; i < norms1.length; i++) {
-          assertEquals("Norm different for doc " + i + " and field '" + curField + "'.", norms1[i], norms2[i]);
-        }      
+        if (norms1 != null && norms2 != null)
+        {
+          assertEquals(norms1.length, norms2.length);
+	        for (int i = 0; i < norms1.length; i++) {
+	          assertEquals("Norm different for doc " + i + " and field '" + curField + "'.", norms1[i], norms2[i]);
+	        }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+          assertSame(norms1, norms2);
+        }
       }
       
       // check deletions
diff --git a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestSegmentReader.java b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestSegmentReader.java
index 5fb7372f259..1bbe37879da 100644
--- a/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestSegmentReader.java
+++ b/src/test/org/apache/lucene/index/TestSegmentReader.java
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@ import org.apache.lucene.document.Fieldable;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.DefaultSimilarity;
 import org.apache.lucene.store.RAMDirectory;
 import org.apache.lucene.store.MockRAMDirectory;
-import org.apache.lucene.analysis.WhitespaceAnalyzer;
-import org.apache.lucene.search.Similarity;
 
 public class TestSegmentReader extends LuceneTestCase {
   private RAMDirectory dir = new RAMDirectory();
@@ -173,16 +171,21 @@ public class TestSegmentReader extends LuceneTestCase {
         assertEquals(reader.hasNorms(f.name()), !f.getOmitNorms());
         assertEquals(reader.hasNorms(f.name()), !DocHelper.noNorms.containsKey(f.name()));
         if (!reader.hasNorms(f.name())) {
-          // test for fake norms of 1.0
+          // test for fake norms of 1.0 or null depending on the flag
           byte [] norms = reader.norms(f.name());
-          assertEquals(norms.length,reader.maxDoc());
-          for (int j=0; j<reader.maxDoc(); j++) {
-            assertEquals(norms[j], DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f));
+          byte norm1 = DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f);
+          if (reader.getDisableFakeNorms())
+            assertNull(norms);
+          else {
+            assertEquals(norms.length,reader.maxDoc());
+            for (int j=0; j<reader.maxDoc(); j++) {
+              assertEquals(norms[j], norm1);
+            }
           }
           norms = new byte[reader.maxDoc()];
           reader.norms(f.name(),norms, 0);
           for (int j=0; j<reader.maxDoc(); j++) {
-            assertEquals(norms[j], DefaultSimilarity.encodeNorm(1.0f));
+            assertEquals(norms[j], norm1);
           }
         }
       }