diff --git a/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb b/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
index a4157d62533ab2bfe6d2b2182d6b365545668d06..7ca3f058636919d8142c97e6632a066ec672e735 100644
--- a/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/gitlab_markdown_helper.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ module GitlabMarkdownHelper
                      escape_once(body)
                    end
 
-    gfm_body = gfm(escaped_body, @project, current_user, html_options)
+    gfm_body = gfm(escaped_body, @project, html_options)
 
     gfm_body.gsub!(%r{<a.*?>.*?</a>}m) do |match|
       "</a>#{match}#{link_to("", url, html_options)[0..-5]}" # "</a>".length +1
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb b/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
index e7c261b745331b844ae4fac2b5ebc3078fdbe887..830de39a88097835f762e21af913639b659d943d 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/markdown.rb
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ module Gitlab
     # text         - the source text
     # project      - the project
     # html_options - extra options for the reference links as given to link_to
-    def gfm(text, project = @project, user = current_user, html_options = {})
+    def gfm(text, project = @project, html_options = {})
       gfm_with_options(text, {}, project, html_options)
     end
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ module Gitlab
     #              - reference_only_path  - Use relative path for reference links
     # project      - the project
     # html_options - extra options for the reference links as given to link_to
-    def gfm_with_options(text, options = {}, project = @project, user = current_user, html_options = {})
+    def gfm_with_options(text, options = {}, project = @project, html_options = {})
       return text if text.nil?
 
       # Duplicate the string so we don't alter the original, then call to_str
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ module Gitlab
 
       # TODO: add popups with additional information
 
-      text = parse(text, project, user)
+      text = parse(text, project)
 
       # Insert pre block extractions
       text.gsub!(/\{gfm-extraction-(\h{32})\}/) do
@@ -155,8 +155,8 @@ module Gitlab
     # text - Text to parse
     #
     # Returns parsed text
-    def parse(text, project = @project, user = current_user)
-      parse_references(text, project, user) if project
+    def parse(text, project = @project)
+      parse_references(text, project) if project
 
       text
     end
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ module Gitlab
 
     TYPES = [:user, :issue, :label, :merge_request, :snippet, :commit, :commit_range].freeze
 
-    def parse_references(text, project = @project, user = current_user)
+    def parse_references(text, project = @project)
       # parse reference links
       text.gsub!(REFERENCE_PATTERN) do |match|
         type       = TYPES.select{|t| !$~[t].nil?}.first
@@ -192,12 +192,12 @@ module Gitlab
         project_path = $LAST_MATCH_INFO[:project]
         if project_path
           actual_project = ::Project.find_with_namespace(project_path)
-          actual_project = nil unless can?(user, :read_project, actual_project)
+          actual_project = nil unless can?(current_user, :read_project, actual_project)
           project_prefix = project_path
         end
 
         parse_result($LAST_MATCH_INFO, type,
-                     actual_project, user, project_prefix) || match
+                     actual_project, project_prefix) || match
       end
     end
 
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ module Gitlab
     # link.  Returns nil if +type+ is nil, if the match string is an HTML
     # entity, if the reference is invalid, or if the matched text includes an
     # invalid project path.
-    def parse_result(match_info, type, project, user, project_prefix)
+    def parse_result(match_info, type, project, project_prefix)
       prefix = match_info[:prefix]
       suffix = match_info[:suffix]
 
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ module Gitlab
       return nil if project.nil? && !project_prefix.nil?
 
       identifier = match_info[type]
-      ref_link = reference_link(type, identifier, project, user, project_prefix)
+      ref_link = reference_link(type, identifier, project, project_prefix)
 
       if ref_link
         "#{prefix}#{ref_link}#{suffix}"
@@ -234,11 +234,11 @@ module Gitlab
     # identifier - Object identifier (Issue ID, SHA hash, etc.)
     #
     # Returns string rendered by the processing method
-    def reference_link(type, identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
-      send("reference_#{type}", identifier, project, user, prefix_text)
+    def reference_link(type, identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
+      send("reference_#{type}", identifier, project, prefix_text)
     end
 
-    def reference_user(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, _ = nil)
+    def reference_user(identifier, project = @project, _ = nil)
       link_options = html_options.merge(
           class: "gfm gfm-project_member #{html_options[:class]}"
         )
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ module Gitlab
       elsif namespace = Namespace.find_by(path: identifier)
         url =
           if namespace.is_a?(Group)
-            return nil unless can?(user, :read_group, namespace)
+            return nil unless can?(current_user, :read_group, namespace)
             group_url(identifier, only_path: options[:reference_only_path])
           else
             user_url(identifier, only_path: options[:reference_only_path])
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_label(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, _ = nil)
+    def reference_label(identifier, project = @project, _ = nil)
       if label = project.labels.find_by(id: identifier)
         link_options = html_options.merge(
           class: "gfm gfm-label #{html_options[:class]}"
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_issue(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
+    def reference_issue(identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
       if project.default_issues_tracker?
         if project.issue_exists? identifier
           url = url_for_issue(identifier, project, only_path: options[:reference_only_path])
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_merge_request(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
+    def reference_merge_request(identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
       if merge_request = project.merge_requests.find_by(iid: identifier)
         link_options = html_options.merge(
           title: "Merge Request: #{merge_request.title}",
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_snippet(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, _ = nil)
+    def reference_snippet(identifier, project = @project, _ = nil)
       if snippet = project.snippets.find_by(id: identifier)
         link_options = html_options.merge(
           title: "Snippet: #{snippet.title}",
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_commit(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
+    def reference_commit(identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
       if project.valid_repo? && commit = project.repository.commit(identifier)
         link_options = html_options.merge(
           title: commit.link_title,
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_commit_range(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
+    def reference_commit_range(identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
       from_id, to_id = identifier.split(/\.{2,3}/, 2)
 
       inclusive = identifier !~ /\.{3}/
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ module Gitlab
       end
     end
 
-    def reference_external_issue(identifier, project = @project, user = current_user, prefix_text = nil)
+    def reference_external_issue(identifier, project = @project, prefix_text = nil)
       url = url_for_issue(identifier, project, only_path: options[:reference_only_path])
       title = project.external_issue_tracker.title