Javascript bookmarklet stopped working in Firefox 41

In Firefox 41, bookmarklets (bookmarks with a javascript: URL, e.g. javascript: alert("it works"), run from a click or a keyword) stopped working. Is there any solution to use javascript: bookmarks in Firefox 41?

Previously seen, understood and solved in Javascript bookmark stopped working in Firefox 13:

If you first load almost any URL, including about:blank, then a Javascript bookmark will work in that tab.

Since Firefox's default behavior for new tabs is about:newtab, which is nothing, and bookmarklets only run once something is loaded, you can do the following to set a default page, and then run bookmarklets:

1. open about:config
2. find browser.newtab.url
3. double-click and change from about:newtab to about:blank (or URI of your choice)
4. Ctrl-T and run bookmarklets in new tabs!

But this no longer works

I can only assume it's related to the browser.newtabpage setting activated by default. However, disabling the newtabpage features did not re-enable it.

Other reports of the issue, and solutions, online refer only to installing the New Tab Override extension. That does work - but is there another way, other than by installing an extension?