diff --git a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
index ea5693b..4d84117 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
+++ b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/notebook.js
@@ -745,7 +745,6 @@ var IPython = (function (IPython) {
             var data = this.toJSON();
             data.name = nbname;
             data.nbformat = 2;
-            data.id = notebook_id
             // We do the call with settings so we can set cache to false.
             var settings = {
                 processData : false,
diff --git a/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbbase.py b/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbbase.py
index dcc430d..90d76b9 100644
--- a/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbbase.py
+++ b/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbbase.py
@@ -107,17 +107,13 @@ def new_worksheet(name=None, cells=None):
     return ws
 
 
-def new_notebook(name=None, id=None, worksheets=None, author=None, email=None,
+def new_notebook(name=None, worksheets=None, author=None, email=None,
     created=None, saved=None, license=None):
     """Create a notebook by name, id and a list of worksheets."""
     nb = NotebookNode()
     nb.nbformat = 2
     if name is not None:
         nb.name = unicode(name)
-    if id is None:
-        nb.id = unicode(uuid.uuid4())
-    else:
-        nb.id = unicode(id)
     if worksheets is None:
         nb.worksheets = []
     else:
diff --git a/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbxml.py b/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbxml.py
index b5f7e62..1952e4d 100644
--- a/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbxml.py
+++ b/IPython/nbformat/v2/nbxml.py
@@ -91,7 +91,6 @@ class XMLReader(NotebookReader):
 
     def to_notebook(self, root, **kwargs):
         nbname = _get_text(root,u'name')
-        nbid = _get_text(root,u'id')
         nbauthor = _get_text(root,u'author')
         nbemail = _get_text(root,u'email')
         nblicense = _get_text(root,u'license')
@@ -152,7 +151,7 @@ class XMLReader(NotebookReader):
             ws = new_worksheet(name=wsname,cells=cells)
             worksheets.append(ws)
 
-        nb = new_notebook(name=nbname,id=nbid,worksheets=worksheets,author=nbauthor,
+        nb = new_notebook(name=nbname,worksheets=worksheets,author=nbauthor,
             email=nbemail,license=nblicense,saved=nbsaved,created=nbcreated)
         return nb
 
@@ -162,7 +161,6 @@ class XMLWriter(NotebookWriter):
     def writes(self, nb, **kwargs):
         nb_e = ET.Element(u'notebook')
         _set_text(nb,u'name',nb_e,u'name')
-        _set_text(nb,u'id',nb_e,u'id')
         _set_text(nb,u'author',nb_e,u'author')
         _set_text(nb,u'email',nb_e,u'email')
         _set_text(nb,u'license',nb_e,u'license')
diff --git a/IPython/nbformat/v2/tests/test_nbbase.py b/IPython/nbformat/v2/tests/test_nbbase.py
index a263e6a..2f854d7 100644
--- a/IPython/nbformat/v2/tests/test_nbbase.py
+++ b/IPython/nbformat/v2/tests/test_nbbase.py
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ class TestNotebook(TestCase):
 
     def test_empty_notebook(self):
         nb = new_notebook()
-        self.assertEquals('id' in nb, True)
         self.assertEquals(nb.worksheets, [])
         self.assertEquals('name' not in nb, True)
         self.assertEquals(nb.nbformat,2)