diff --git a/scripts/startup/bl_ui/space_node.py b/scripts/startup/bl_ui/space_node.py
index 2799d6cb19b..83e703914bb 100644
--- a/scripts/startup/bl_ui/space_node.py
+++ b/scripts/startup/bl_ui/space_node.py
@@ -147,9 +147,6 @@ class NODE_HT_header(Header):
 
             NODE_MT_editor_menus.draw_collapsible(context, layout)
 
-            if snode_id:
-                layout.prop(snode_id, "use_nodes")
-
             layout.separator_spacer()
             row = layout.row()
             row.enabled = not snode.pin
diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_blender_version.h b/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_blender_version.h
index ccee2f8dab1..323a746a906 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_blender_version.h
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/BKE_blender_version.h
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 /* Blender file format version. */
 #define BLENDER_FILE_VERSION BLENDER_VERSION
-#define BLENDER_FILE_SUBVERSION 16
+#define BLENDER_FILE_SUBVERSION 17
 
 /* Minimum Blender version that supports reading file written with the current
  * version. Older Blender versions will test this and cancel loading the file, showing a warning to
diff --git a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/scene.cc b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/scene.cc
index e78e3b87914..9d7a4e44d3e 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/scene.cc
+++ b/source/blender/blenkernel/intern/scene.cc
@@ -1009,6 +1009,12 @@ static void scene_blend_write(BlendWriter *writer, ID *id, const void *id_addres
     sce->nodetree = reinterpret_cast<bNodeTree *>(MEM_mallocN(1, "dummy pointer"));
   }
 
+  /* Todo(#140111): Forward compatibility support will be removed in 6.0. Remove mapping between
+   * `scene->use_nodes` and `scene->r.scemode`. */
+  if (sce->compositing_node_group && sce->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) {
+    sce->use_nodes = true;
+  }
+
   /* write LibData */
   BLO_write_id_struct(writer, Scene, id_address, &sce->id);
   BKE_id_blend_write(writer, &sce->id);
diff --git a/source/blender/blenloader/intern/versioning_500.cc b/source/blender/blenloader/intern/versioning_500.cc
index 4439725d14c..ecf613016dd 100644
--- a/source/blender/blenloader/intern/versioning_500.cc
+++ b/source/blender/blenloader/intern/versioning_500.cc
@@ -330,6 +330,21 @@ static void versioning_replace_legacy_combined_and_separate_color_nodes(bNodeTre
   }
 }
 
+/* "Use Nodes" was removed. */
+static void do_version_scene_remove_use_nodes(Scene *scene)
+{
+  if (scene->nodetree == nullptr && scene->compositing_node_group == nullptr) {
+    /* scene->use_nodes is set to false by default. Files saved without compositing node trees
+     * should not disable compositing. */
+    return;
+  }
+  else if (scene->use_nodes == false && scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) {
+    /* A compositing node tree exists but users explicitly disabled compositing. */
+    scene->r.scemode &= ~R_DOCOMP;
+  }
+  /* Ignore use_nodes otherwise. */
+}
+
 void do_versions_after_linking_500(FileData * /*fd*/, Main * /*bmain*/)
 {
   /**
@@ -451,6 +466,12 @@ void blo_do_versions_500(FileData * /*fd*/, Library * /*lib*/, Main *bmain)
     FOREACH_NODETREE_END;
   }
 
+  if (!MAIN_VERSION_FILE_ATLEAST(bmain, 500, 17)) {
+    LISTBASE_FOREACH (Scene *, scene, &bmain->scenes) {
+      do_version_scene_remove_use_nodes(scene);
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Always bump subversion in BKE_blender_version.h when adding versioning
    * code here, and wrap it inside a MAIN_VERSION_FILE_ATLEAST check.
diff --git a/source/blender/draw/intern/draw_context.cc b/source/blender/draw/intern/draw_context.cc
index 6c359f5dd79..d28b5a37d88 100644
--- a/source/blender/draw/intern/draw_context.cc
+++ b/source/blender/draw/intern/draw_context.cc
@@ -1973,10 +1973,6 @@ bool DRWContext::is_viewport_compositor_enabled() const
     return false;
   }
 
-  if (!this->scene->use_nodes) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
   if (!this->scene->compositing_node_group) {
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/render/render_update.cc b/source/blender/editors/render/render_update.cc
index 415b8925763..1952c82d172 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/render/render_update.cc
+++ b/source/blender/editors/render/render_update.cc
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ static void texture_changed(Main *bmain, Tex *tex)
       BKE_paint_invalidate_overlay_tex(scene, view_layer, tex);
     }
     /* find compositing nodes */
-    if (scene->use_nodes && scene->compositing_node_group) {
+    if (scene->compositing_node_group) {
       for (bNode *node : scene->compositing_node_group->all_nodes()) {
         if (node->id == &tex->id) {
           blender::ed::space_node::tag_update_id(&scene->id);
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_draw.cc b/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_draw.cc
index cc9ec4256ac..46b19981a67 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_draw.cc
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_draw.cc
@@ -5239,9 +5239,6 @@ static void snode_setup_v2d(SpaceNode &snode, ARegion &region, const float2 &cen
 static bool compositor_is_in_use(const bContext &context)
 {
   const Scene *scene = CTX_data_scene(&context);
-  if (!scene->use_nodes) {
-    return false;
-  }
 
   if (!scene->compositing_node_group) {
     return false;
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_edit.cc b/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_edit.cc
index b575a6b0bef..54cf7f2dbd9 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_edit.cc
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_node/node_edit.cc
@@ -297,10 +297,6 @@ static void compo_startjob(void *cjv, wmJobWorkerStatus *worker_status)
   bNodeTree *ntree = cj->localtree;
   Scene *scene = DEG_get_evaluated_scene(cj->compositor_depsgraph);
 
-  if (scene->use_nodes == false) {
-    return;
-  }
-
   cj->stop = &worker_status->stop;
   cj->do_update = &worker_status->do_update;
   cj->progress = &worker_status->progress;
diff --git a/source/blender/editors/space_node/space_node.cc b/source/blender/editors/space_node/space_node.cc
index 665d8ea6f4b..b2f267cded5 100644
--- a/source/blender/editors/space_node/space_node.cc
+++ b/source/blender/editors/space_node/space_node.cc
@@ -1241,11 +1241,9 @@ static void node_area_refresh(const bContext *C, ScrArea *area)
   if (snode->nodetree) {
     if (snode->nodetree->type == NTREE_COMPOSIT) {
       Scene *scene = (Scene *)snode->id;
-      if (scene->use_nodes) {
-        if (snode->runtime->recalc_regular_compositing) {
-          snode->runtime->recalc_regular_compositing = false;
-          ED_node_composite_job(C, snode->nodetree, scene);
-        }
+      if (snode->runtime->recalc_regular_compositing) {
+        snode->runtime->recalc_regular_compositing = false;
+        ED_node_composite_job(C, snode->nodetree, scene);
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/source/blender/makesdna/DNA_scene_types.h b/source/blender/makesdna/DNA_scene_types.h
index b165bf8887c..68c3d3dd8ad 100644
--- a/source/blender/makesdna/DNA_scene_types.h
+++ b/source/blender/makesdna/DNA_scene_types.h
@@ -2085,7 +2085,7 @@ typedef struct Scene {
   /** Various settings. */
   short flag;
 
-  char use_nodes;
+  char use_nodes DNA_DEPRECATED;
   char _pad3[1];
 
   struct bNodeTree *nodetree DNA_DEPRECATED;
diff --git a/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_scene.cc b/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_scene.cc
index 637036cd33e..866087f23a3 100644
--- a/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_scene.cc
+++ b/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_scene.cc
@@ -1997,10 +1997,24 @@ static std::optional<std::string> rna_SceneRenderView_path(const PointerRNA *ptr
   return fmt::format("render.views[\"{}\"]", srv_name_esc);
 }
 
+static bool rna_Scene_use_nodes_get(PointerRNA *ptr)
+{
+  Scene *scene = reinterpret_cast<Scene *>(ptr->data);
+  return scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP;
+}
+
+static void rna_Scene_use_nodes_set(PointerRNA *ptr, const bool use_nodes)
+{
+  Scene *scene = reinterpret_cast<Scene *>(ptr->data);
+  SET_FLAG_FROM_TEST(scene->r.scemode, use_nodes, R_DOCOMP);
+}
+
+/* Todo(#140111): Remove in 6.0. In Python API, this function is used to create a compositing node
+ * tree if none exists. scene.use_nodes will be replaced by the existing scene.use_compositing. */
 static void rna_Scene_use_nodes_update(bContext *C, PointerRNA *ptr)
 {
   Scene *scene = (Scene *)ptr->data;
-  if (scene->use_nodes && scene->compositing_node_group == nullptr) {
+  if (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP && scene->compositing_node_group == nullptr) {
     ED_node_composit_default(C, scene);
   }
   DEG_relations_tag_update(CTX_data_main(C));
@@ -7332,7 +7346,7 @@ static void rna_def_scene_render_data(BlenderRNA *brna)
   RNA_def_property_ui_text(prop,
                            "Compositing",
                            "Process the render result through the compositing pipeline, "
-                           "if compositing nodes are enabled");
+                           "if a compositing node group is assigned to the scene");
   RNA_def_property_update(prop, NC_SCENE | ND_RENDER_OPTIONS, nullptr);
 
   prop = RNA_def_property(srna, "use_sequencer", PROP_BOOLEAN, PROP_NONE);
@@ -9051,7 +9065,9 @@ void RNA_def_scene(BlenderRNA *brna)
   prop = RNA_def_property(srna, "use_nodes", PROP_BOOLEAN, PROP_NONE);
   RNA_def_property_boolean_sdna(prop, nullptr, "use_nodes", 1);
   RNA_def_property_flag(prop, PROP_CONTEXT_UPDATE);
-  RNA_def_property_ui_text(prop, "Use Nodes", "Enable the compositing node tree");
+  RNA_def_property_ui_text(
+      prop, "Use Nodes", "Enable the compositing node tree. (Deprecated: use use_compositing)");
+  RNA_def_property_boolean_funcs(prop, "rna_Scene_use_nodes_get", "rna_Scene_use_nodes_set");
   RNA_def_property_update(prop, NC_SCENE | ND_RENDER_OPTIONS, "rna_Scene_use_nodes_update");
 
   /* Sequencer */
diff --git a/source/blender/render/intern/engine.cc b/source/blender/render/intern/engine.cc
index ba063b9bbf7..4976d00353c 100644
--- a/source/blender/render/intern/engine.cc
+++ b/source/blender/render/intern/engine.cc
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ static bool possibly_using_gpu_compositor(const Render *re)
   }
 
   const Scene *scene = re->pipeline_scene_eval;
-  return (scene->compositing_node_group && scene->use_nodes && (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP));
+  return (scene->compositing_node_group && (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP));
 }
 
 static void engine_render_view_layer(Render *re,
diff --git a/source/blender/render/intern/pipeline.cc b/source/blender/render/intern/pipeline.cc
index 1a583362434..ca18fa32b5c 100644
--- a/source/blender/render/intern/pipeline.cc
+++ b/source/blender/render/intern/pipeline.cc
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ void RE_FreeUnusedGPUResources()
 
       /* Detect if scene is using GPU compositing, and if either a node editor is
        * showing the nodes, or an image editor is showing the render result or viewer. */
-      if (!(scene->use_nodes && scene->compositing_node_group &&
+      if (!(scene->compositing_node_group &&
             scene->r.compositor_device == SCE_COMPOSITOR_DEVICE_GPU))
       {
         continue;
@@ -1222,9 +1222,6 @@ static bool compositor_needs_render(Scene *scene)
   if (ntree == nullptr) {
     return true;
   }
-  if (scene->use_nodes == false) {
-    return true;
-  }
   if ((scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) == 0) {
     return true;
   }
@@ -1360,7 +1357,7 @@ static void do_render_compositor(Render *re)
   }
 
   if (!re->test_break()) {
-    if (ntree && re->scene->use_nodes && re->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) {
+    if (ntree && re->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) {
       /* checks if there are render-result nodes that need scene */
       if ((re->r.scemode & R_SINGLE_LAYER) == 0) {
         do_render_compositor_scenes(re);
@@ -1678,7 +1675,7 @@ static bool check_valid_compositing_camera(Scene *scene,
                                            Object *camera_override,
                                            ReportList *reports)
 {
-  if (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP && scene->use_nodes) {
+  if (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP && scene->compositing_node_group) {
     for (bNode *node : scene->compositing_node_group->all_nodes()) {
       if (node->type_legacy == CMP_NODE_R_LAYERS && !node->is_muted()) {
         Scene *sce = node->id ? (Scene *)node->id : scene;
@@ -1859,13 +1856,8 @@ bool RE_is_rendering_allowed(Scene *scene,
       return false;
     }
   }
-  else if ((scemode & R_DOCOMP) && scene->use_nodes) {
+  else if (scemode & R_DOCOMP && scene->compositing_node_group) {
     /* Compositor */
-    if (!scene->compositing_node_group) {
-      BKE_report(reports, RPT_ERROR, "No node tree in scene");
-      return false;
-    }
-
     if (!check_compositor_output(scene)) {
       BKE_report(reports, RPT_ERROR, "No render output node in scene");
       return false;
diff --git a/source/blender/sequencer/intern/render.cc b/source/blender/sequencer/intern/render.cc
index c26ed829108..7acdb357c75 100644
--- a/source/blender/sequencer/intern/render.cc
+++ b/source/blender/sequencer/intern/render.cc
@@ -1416,7 +1416,7 @@ static ImBuf *seq_render_scene_strip(const RenderData *context,
 #if 0 /* UNUSED */
   have_seq = (scene->r.scemode & R_DOSEQ) && scene->ed && scene->ed->seqbase.first;
 #endif
-  have_comp = (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) && scene->use_nodes && scene->compositing_node_group;
+  have_comp = (scene->r.scemode & R_DOCOMP) && scene->compositing_node_group;
 
   /* Get view layer for the strip. */
   ViewLayer *view_layer = BKE_view_layer_default_render(scene);