diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 7a2ad1228..37ac4cb98 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ New features added
 
   - Added ``cmember`` role for consistency.
 
+  - Lists enumerated by letters or roman numerals are now handled like in
+    standard reST.
+
 * HTML output and templates:
 
   - Incompatible change: The "root" relation link (top left in the
diff --git a/doc/rest.rst b/doc/rest.rst
index ad1c695c8..751829d16 100644
--- a/doc/rest.rst
+++ b/doc/rest.rst
@@ -67,12 +67,6 @@ autonumbered using a ``#`` sign::
    #. This is a numbered list.
    #. It has two items too.
 
-Note that Sphinx disables the use of enumerated lists introduced by alphabetic
-or roman numerals, such as ::
-
-   A. First item
-   B. Second item
-
 
 Nested lists are possible, but be aware that they must be separated from the
 parent list items by blank lines::
diff --git a/sphinx/environment.py b/sphinx/environment.py
index bddf3851a..3b7eb91e1 100644
--- a/sphinx/environment.py
+++ b/sphinx/environment.py
@@ -41,13 +41,6 @@ from docutils.writers import UnfilteredWriter
 from docutils.transforms import Transform
 from docutils.transforms.parts import ContentsFilter
 
-# monkey-patch reST parser to disable alphabetic and roman enumerated lists
-from docutils.parsers.rst.states import Body
-Body.enum.converters['loweralpha'] = \
-    Body.enum.converters['upperalpha'] = \
-    Body.enum.converters['lowerroman'] = \
-    Body.enum.converters['upperroman'] = lambda x: None
-
 from sphinx import addnodes
 from sphinx.util import get_matching_docs, SEP
 from sphinx.directives import additional_xref_types