Did you expect .removeData to remove the data attribute from the HTML? That's not how it works. The data APIs only remove the data from the internal object. When you ask for the data the next time, it finds a match in the data- attribute on the element.

The docs clearly mention this:

Removing data from jQuery's internal .data() cache does not effect any HTML5 data- attributes in a document; use .removeAttr() to remove those. -- http://api.jquery.com/removeData/

More information is here:

http://www.learningjquery.com/2011/09/using-jquerys-data-apis

In general, if you are not interested in the performance benefit of having the data cached by jQuery, skip the .data() API altogether and work directly with .attr() on the attribute.

Because we get so many tickets, we often need to return them to the initial reporter for more information. If that person does not reply within 14 days, the ticket will automatically be closed, and that has happened in this case. If you still are interested in pursuing this issue, feel free to add a comment with the requested information and we will be happy to reopen the ticket if it is still valid. Thanks!

.removeData could simply set the cache to null like it probably does in earlier versions, that way I would not get back the data that is supposed to be removed.