Exactly. This is just the same reasoning that gave us that split infinitive monstrosity. There was never a prohibition against splitting infinitives in English, either in normal speech or in the writing of good writers. Then some guy came along and said he didn't think it was very tidy and he didn't like it and suddenly every rabid prescriptivist is saying anyone who splits infinitives is an ignorant lout who should be shunned by all right-thinking individuals. The good folk at Language Log refer to these things as "zombie rules" because of their ability to keep going no matter how many stakes are driven through their hearts.