diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
index 3b0f19475e8ee60a54e2dc2a6594572c35758b7e..a1b210a54ff3af27b943b74f74c50c7ea542839e 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/base.rb
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@ def render(options = nil, extra_options = {}, &block) #:doc:
             render_for_text(@template.render(options), options[:status])
 
           elsif action_name = options[:action]
-            render_for_file(default_template_name(action_name.to_s), options[:status], nil, options[:locals] || {})
+            render_for_file(default_template_name(action_name.to_s), options[:status])
 
           elsif xml = options[:xml]
             response.content_type ||= Mime::XML
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/layout.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/layout.rb
index 8b6febe254c7090ec971e850935e1885678beae6..fd743ced3833e0c3b23849ebbc92e1a73aa050e5 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/layout.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/layout.rb
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ def render_with_a_layout(options = nil, extra_options = {}, &block) #:nodoc:
         template_with_options = options.is_a?(Hash)
 
         if (layout = pick_layout(template_with_options, options)) && apply_layout?(template_with_options, options)
-          options = options.merge :layout => false if template_with_options
+          options.delete(:layout) if template_with_options
           logger.info("Rendering template within #{layout}") if logger
 
           content_for_layout = render_with_no_layout(options, extra_options, &block)
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/render_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/render_test.rb
index e383fda384f14511f45920f61c0cf6f88bd147ec..8d15aa2da432a17dde5de5aa5df2224574b6fce2 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/render_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/render_test.rb
@@ -371,6 +371,12 @@ def update_page_with_instance_variables
     end
   end
 
+  def update_page_with_view_method
+    render :update do |page|
+      page.replace_html 'person', pluralize(2, 'person')
+    end
+  end
+
   def action_talk_to_layout
     # Action template sets variable that's picked up by layout
   end
@@ -1022,6 +1028,13 @@ def test_update_page_with_instance_variables
     assert_match /\$37/, @response.body
   end
 
+  def test_update_page_with_view_method
+    get :update_page_with_view_method
+    assert_template nil
+    assert_equal 'text/javascript; charset=utf-8', @response.headers['type']
+    assert_match /2 people/, @response.body
+  end
+
   def test_yield_content_for
     assert_not_deprecated { get :yield_content_for }
     assert_equal "<title>Putting stuff in the title!</title>\n\nGreat stuff!\n", @response.body