diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/key_generator.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/key_generator.rb
index 23967f9b92..598c46bce5 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/key_generator.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/key_generator.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-Rails.application.message_verifier(:remember_me).generaterequire 'thread_safe'
+require 'thread_safe'
 require 'openssl'
 
 module ActiveSupport
diff --git a/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md b/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
index 1ff9ae4aa8..40ab1a1d33 100644
--- a/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
+++ b/guides/source/4_1_release_notes.md
@@ -181,21 +181,18 @@ See its
 [documentation](http://api.rubyonrails.org/v4.1.0/classes/ActiveRecord/Enum.html)
 for a detailed write up.
 
-### Message Verifiers
+### Application Message Verifier
 
-Message verifiers can be used to generate and verify signed messages. This can
-be useful to safely transport sensitive data like remember-me tokens and
-friends.
-
-The method `Rails.application.message_verifier` returns a new message verifier
-that signs messages with a key derived from secret_key_base and the given
-message verifier name:
+The application message verifier can be used to generate and verify signed
+messages in the application. This can be useful for remember-me tokens and
+friends:
 
 ```ruby
-signed_token = Rails.application.message_verifier(:remember_me).generate(token)
-Rails.application.message_verifier(:remember_me).verify(signed_token) # => token
+signed_message = Rails.application.message_verifier('salt').generate('my sensible data')
+Rails.application.message_verifier('salt').verify(signed_message)
+# => 'my sensible data'
 
-Rails.application.message_verifier(:remember_me).verify(tampered_token)
+Rails.application.message_verifier('salt').verify(tampered_message)
 # raises ActiveSupport::MessageVerifier::InvalidSignature
 
 ```