diff --git a/geomesa-accumulo/geomesa-accumulo-datastore/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/accumulo/data/AccumuloFeatureReaderTest.scala b/geomesa-accumulo/geomesa-accumulo-datastore/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/accumulo/data/AccumuloFeatureReaderTest.scala
index 9209cbd1f4ce..15ca4f856c91 100644
--- a/geomesa-accumulo/geomesa-accumulo-datastore/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/accumulo/data/AccumuloFeatureReaderTest.scala
+++ b/geomesa-accumulo/geomesa-accumulo-datastore/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/accumulo/data/AccumuloFeatureReaderTest.scala
@@ -98,28 +98,6 @@ class AccumuloFeatureReaderTest extends Specification with TestWithFeatureType {
       events.head.asInstanceOf[QueryEvent].hits mustEqual 100
     }
 
-    "be able to count bin results in stats through geoserver" in {
-      val events = ArrayBuffer.empty[AuditedEvent]
-
-      val query = new Query(sftName, filter)
-      val collection = dataStoreWithAudit(events).getFeatureSource(sftName).getFeatures(query)
-
-      // put the hints in the request after getting the feature collection
-      // to mimic the bin output format workflow
-      val hints = Map(QueryHints.BIN_TRACK -> "name", QueryHints.BIN_BATCH_SIZE -> 10)
-      QueryPlanner.setPerThreadQueryHints(hints.asInstanceOf[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]])
-
-      var count = 0
-      val reader = collection.features()
-      while (reader.hasNext) { reader.next(); count += 1 }
-      reader.close()
-
-      count must beLessThan(100)
-      events must haveLength(1)
-      events.head must beAnInstanceOf[QueryEvent]
-      events.head.asInstanceOf[QueryEvent].hits mustEqual 100
-    }
-
     "be able to limit features" in {
       val query = new Query(sftName, filter)
       query.setMaxFeatures(10)
@@ -146,23 +124,6 @@ class AccumuloFeatureReaderTest extends Specification with TestWithFeatureType {
       count mustEqual 10 * 16 // 16 bytes per bin record
     }
 
-    "be able to limit features in bin results through geoserver" in {
-      val query = new Query(sftName, filter)
-      query.setMaxFeatures(10)
-
-      val collection = ds.getFeatureSource(sftName).getFeatures(query)
-
-      val hints = Map(QueryHints.BIN_TRACK -> "name", QueryHints.BIN_BATCH_SIZE -> 10)
-      QueryPlanner.setPerThreadQueryHints(hints.asInstanceOf[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]])
-
-      var count = 0
-      val reader = collection.features()
-      while (reader.hasNext) { count += reader.next().getAttribute(0).asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]].length }
-      reader.close()
-
-      count mustEqual 10 * 16 // 16 bytes per bin record
-    }
-
     "be able to limit features and collect stats" in {
       val events = ArrayBuffer.empty[AuditedEvent]
       val query = new Query(sftName, filter)
@@ -196,28 +157,5 @@ class AccumuloFeatureReaderTest extends Specification with TestWithFeatureType {
       events.head must beAnInstanceOf[QueryEvent]
       events.head.asInstanceOf[QueryEvent].hits must beLessThan(20L)
     }
-
-    "be able to limit  features in bin results and collect stats through geoserver" in {
-      val events = ArrayBuffer.empty[AuditedEvent]
-      val query = new Query(sftName, filter)
-      query.setMaxFeatures(10)
-
-      val collection = dataStoreWithAudit(events).getFeatureSource(sftName).getFeatures(query)
-
-      // put the hints in the request after getting the feature collection
-      // to mimic the bin output format workflow
-      val hints = Map(QueryHints.BIN_TRACK -> "name", QueryHints.BIN_BATCH_SIZE -> 10)
-      QueryPlanner.setPerThreadQueryHints(hints.asInstanceOf[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]])
-
-      var count = 0
-      val reader = collection.features()
-      while (reader.hasNext) { count += reader.next().getAttribute(0).asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]].length }
-      reader.close()
-
-      count mustEqual 10 * 16 // 16 bytes per bin record
-      events must haveLength(1)
-      events.head must beAnInstanceOf[QueryEvent]
-      events.head.asInstanceOf[QueryEvent].hits mustEqual 10L
-    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/planning/QueryPlanner.scala b/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/planning/QueryPlanner.scala
index d3cac6281b29..aea7c8bb4311 100644
--- a/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/planning/QueryPlanner.scala
+++ b/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/planning/QueryPlanner.scala
@@ -162,15 +162,19 @@ object QueryPlanner extends LazyLogging {
 
   import org.locationtech.geomesa.utils.geotools.RichSimpleFeatureType.RichSimpleFeatureType
 
-  private [planning] val threadedHints = new SoftThreadLocal[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]]
+  private[planning] val threadedHints = new SoftThreadLocal[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]]
 
   object CostEvaluation extends Enumeration {
     type CostEvaluation = Value
     val Stats, Index = Value
   }
 
+  // threaded hints were used as a work-around with wfs output formats, but now we use GetFeatureCallback instead
+  @deprecated("Deprecated with no replacement")
   def setPerThreadQueryHints(hints: Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]): Unit = threadedHints.put(hints)
+  @deprecated("Deprecated with no replacement")
   def getPerThreadQueryHints: Option[Map[AnyRef, AnyRef]] = threadedHints.get
+  @deprecated("Deprecated with no replacement")
   def clearPerThreadQueryHints(): Unit = threadedHints.clear()
 
   /**
diff --git a/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/view/MergedQueryRunner.scala b/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/view/MergedQueryRunner.scala
index 004c68e79101..dd9d9bea54fb 100644
--- a/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/view/MergedQueryRunner.scala
+++ b/geomesa-index-api/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/index/view/MergedQueryRunner.scala
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ class MergedQueryRunner(
     val query = new Query(original)
 
     // set the thread-local hints once, so that we have them for each data store that is being queried
+    // noinspection ScalaDeprecation
     QueryPlanner.getPerThreadQueryHints.foreach { hints =>
       hints.foreach { case (k, v) => query.getHints.put(k, v) }
       // clear any configured hints so we don't process them again