diff --git a/Lib/heapq.py b/Lib/heapq.py
index 04725cd..753c3b7 100644
--- a/Lib/heapq.py
+++ b/Lib/heapq.py
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
            'nsmallest']
 
 from itertools import islice, repeat, count, imap, izip, tee
-from operator import itemgetter
+from operator import itemgetter, neg
 import bisect
 
 def heappush(heap, item):
@@ -315,8 +315,6 @@
 
     Equivalent to:  sorted(iterable, key=key)[:n]
     """
-    if key is None:
-        return _nsmallest(n, iterable)
     in1, in2 = tee(iterable)
     it = izip(imap(key, in1), count(), in2)                 # decorate
     result = _nsmallest(n, it)
@@ -328,10 +326,8 @@
 
     Equivalent to:  sorted(iterable, key=key, reverse=True)[:n]
     """
-    if key is None:
-        return _nlargest(n, iterable)
     in1, in2 = tee(iterable)
-    it = izip(imap(key, in1), count(), in2)                 # decorate
+    it = izip(imap(key, in1), imap(neg, count()), in2)      # decorate
     result = _nlargest(n, it)
     return map(itemgetter(2), result)                       # undecorate