diff --git a/include/con.h b/include/con.h
index 5bf82487..8b9ae9c7 100644
--- a/include/con.h
+++ b/include/con.h
@@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ void con_focus(Con *con);
  */
 bool con_is_leaf(Con *con);
 
+/*
+ * Returns true if a container should be considered split.
+ *
+ */
+bool con_is_split(Con *con);
+
 /**
  * Returns true if this node accepts a window (if the node swallows windows,
  * it might already have swallowed enough and cannot hold any more).
diff --git a/include/data.h b/include/data.h
index 3cf22f61..810709cd 100644
--- a/include/data.h
+++ b/include/data.h
@@ -440,8 +440,6 @@ struct Assignment {
  */
 struct Con {
     bool mapped;
-    /** whether this is a split container or not */
-    bool split;
     enum {
         CT_ROOT = 0,
         CT_OUTPUT = 1,
diff --git a/src/con.c b/src/con.c
index 1389bf53..d872858b 100644
--- a/src/con.c
+++ b/src/con.c
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ static void con_force_split_parents_redraw(Con *con) {
     Con *parent = con;
 
     while (parent && parent->type != CT_WORKSPACE && parent->type != CT_DOCKAREA) {
-        if (parent->split)
+        if (!con_is_leaf(parent))
             FREE(parent->deco_render_params);
         parent = parent->parent;
     }
@@ -232,6 +232,24 @@ bool con_is_leaf(Con *con) {
     return TAILQ_EMPTY(&(con->nodes_head));
 }
 
+/*
+ * Returns true if a container should be considered split.
+ *
+ */
+bool con_is_split(Con *con) {
+    if (con_is_leaf(con))
+        return false;
+
+    switch (con->layout) {
+        case L_DOCKAREA:
+        case L_OUTPUT:
+            return false;
+
+        default:
+            return true;
+    }
+}
+
 /*
  * Returns true if this node accepts a window (if the node swallows windows,
  * it might already have swallowed enough and cannot hold any more).
@@ -242,7 +260,7 @@ bool con_accepts_window(Con *con) {
     if (con->type == CT_WORKSPACE)
         return false;
 
-    if (con->split) {
+    if (con_is_split(con)) {
         DLOG("container %p does not accept windows, it is a split container.\n", con);
         return false;
     }
@@ -1163,7 +1181,6 @@ void con_set_layout(Con *con, int layout) {
              * split. */
             new->layout = layout;
             new->last_split_layout = con->last_split_layout;
-            new->split = true;
 
             Con *old_focused = TAILQ_FIRST(&(con->focus_head));
             if (old_focused == TAILQ_END(&(con->focus_head)))
@@ -1336,7 +1353,7 @@ Rect con_minimum_size(Con *con) {
     /* For horizontal/vertical split containers we sum up the width (h-split)
      * or height (v-split) and use the maximum of the height (h-split) or width
      * (v-split) as minimum size. */
-    if (con->split) {
+    if (con_is_split(con)) {
         uint32_t width = 0, height = 0;
         Con *child;
         TAILQ_FOREACH(child, &(con->nodes_head), nodes) {
@@ -1354,7 +1371,7 @@ Rect con_minimum_size(Con *con) {
     }
 
     ELOG("Unhandled case, type = %d, layout = %d, split = %d\n",
-         con->type, con->layout, con->split);
+         con->type, con->layout, con_is_split(con));
     assert(false);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/floating.c b/src/floating.c
index 17fe74cc..b884a182 100644
--- a/src/floating.c
+++ b/src/floating.c
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ void floating_enable(Con *con, bool automatic) {
      * otherwise. */
     Con *ws = con_get_workspace(con);
     nc->parent = ws;
-    nc->split = true;
     nc->type = CT_FLOATING_CON;
     nc->layout = L_SPLITH;
     /* We insert nc already, even though its rect is not yet calculated. This
diff --git a/src/ipc.c b/src/ipc.c
index 84ef2c36..5232acf2 100644
--- a/src/ipc.c
+++ b/src/ipc.c
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ void dump_node(yajl_gen gen, struct Con *con, bool inplace_restart) {
 
     /* provided for backwards compatibility only. */
     ystr("orientation");
-    if (!con->split)
+    if (!con_is_split(con))
         ystr("none");
     else {
         if (con_orientation(con) == HORIZ)
@@ -202,9 +202,6 @@ void dump_node(yajl_gen gen, struct Con *con, bool inplace_restart) {
     ystr("focused");
     y(bool, (con == focused));
 
-    ystr("split");
-    y(bool, con->split);
-
     ystr("layout");
     switch (con->layout) {
         case L_DEFAULT:
diff --git a/src/load_layout.c b/src/load_layout.c
index d5735885..ca4c87ef 100644
--- a/src/load_layout.c
+++ b/src/load_layout.c
@@ -172,11 +172,6 @@ static int json_string(void *ctx, const unsigned char *val, unsigned int len) {
             else if (strcasecmp(buf, "vertical") == 0)
                 json_node->last_split_layout = L_SPLITV;
             else LOG("Unhandled orientation: %s\n", buf);
-
-            /* What used to be an implicit check whether orientation !=
-             * NO_ORIENTATION is now a proper separate flag. */
-            if (strcasecmp(buf, "none") != 0)
-                json_node->split = true;
             free(buf);
         } else if (strcasecmp(last_key, "border") == 0) {
             char *buf = NULL;
@@ -202,11 +197,9 @@ static int json_string(void *ctx, const unsigned char *val, unsigned int len) {
                 json_node->layout = L_STACKED;
             else if (strcasecmp(buf, "tabbed") == 0)
                 json_node->layout = L_TABBED;
-            else if (strcasecmp(buf, "dockarea") == 0) {
+            else if (strcasecmp(buf, "dockarea") == 0)
                 json_node->layout = L_DOCKAREA;
-                /* Necessary for migrating from older versions of i3. */
-                json_node->split = false;
-            } else if (strcasecmp(buf, "output") == 0)
+            else if (strcasecmp(buf, "output") == 0)
                 json_node->layout = L_OUTPUT;
             else if (strcasecmp(buf, "splith") == 0)
                 json_node->layout = L_SPLITH;
@@ -333,9 +326,6 @@ static int json_bool(void *ctx, int val) {
         to_focus = json_node;
     }
 
-    if (strcasecmp(last_key, "split") == 0)
-        json_node->split = val;
-
     if (parsing_swallows) {
         if (strcasecmp(last_key, "restart_mode") == 0)
             current_swallow->restart_mode = val;
diff --git a/src/tree.c b/src/tree.c
index 3d598d50..d4794e4d 100644
--- a/src/tree.c
+++ b/src/tree.c
@@ -382,7 +382,6 @@ void tree_split(Con *con, orientation_t orientation) {
     TAILQ_REPLACE(&(parent->focus_head), con, new, focused);
     new->parent = parent;
     new->layout = (orientation == HORIZ) ? L_SPLITH : L_SPLITV;
-    new->split = true;
 
     /* 3: swap 'percent' (resize factor) */
     new->percent = con->percent;
@@ -626,8 +625,8 @@ void tree_flatten(Con *con) {
 
     /* The child must have a different orientation than the con but the same as
      * the con’s parent to be redundant */
-    if (!con->split ||
-        !child->split ||
+    if (!con_is_split(con) ||
+        !con_is_split(child) ||
         con_orientation(con) == con_orientation(child) ||
         con_orientation(child) != con_orientation(parent))
         goto recurse;
diff --git a/src/workspace.c b/src/workspace.c
index ef6a2add..872ec768 100644
--- a/src/workspace.c
+++ b/src/workspace.c
@@ -768,7 +768,6 @@ void ws_force_orientation(Con *ws, orientation_t orientation) {
     /* 1: create a new split container */
     Con *split = con_new(NULL, NULL);
     split->parent = ws;
-    split->split = true;
 
     /* 2: copy layout from workspace */
     split->layout = ws->layout;
@@ -820,7 +819,6 @@ Con *workspace_attach_to(Con *ws) {
     /* 1: create a new split container */
     Con *new = con_new(NULL, NULL);
     new->parent = ws;
-    new->split = true;
 
     /* 2: set the requested layout on the split con */
     new->layout = ws->workspace_layout;
diff --git a/testcases/t/116-nestedcons.t b/testcases/t/116-nestedcons.t
index fc0b742a..84e86879 100644
--- a/testcases/t/116-nestedcons.t
+++ b/testcases/t/116-nestedcons.t
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ my $expected = {
     name => 'root',
     orientation => $ignore,
     type => 0,
-    split => JSON::XS::false,
     id => $ignore,
     rect => $ignore,
     window_rect => $ignore,