diff --git a/java/java-analysis-impl/src/META-INF/JavaAnalysisPlugin.xml b/java/java-analysis-impl/src/META-INF/JavaAnalysisPlugin.xml
index 58ecde76ddb5..b5cdecd0ba43 100644
--- a/java/java-analysis-impl/src/META-INF/JavaAnalysisPlugin.xml
+++ b/java/java-analysis-impl/src/META-INF/JavaAnalysisPlugin.xml
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
     <highlightingPassFactory implementation="com.intellij.codeInsight.daemon.impl.JavaTextBlockIndentPassFactory"/>
     <highlightingPassFactory implementation="com.intellij.codeInsight.daemon.problems.pass.ProjectProblemPassFactory"/>
     <deadCode implementation="com.intellij.codeInspection.java19modules.Java9ModuleEntryPoint"/>
-    <smartPointer.anchorProvider implementation="com.intellij.uast.UastElementAnchorProvider"/>
     <metaLanguage implementation="com.intellij.uast.UastMetaLanguage"/>
     <lang.inspectionSuppressor language="JAVA" implementationClass="com.intellij.codeInspection.SuppressManagerImpl"/>
     <projectService serviceImplementation="com.intellij.codeInspection.bytecodeAnalysis.ProjectBytecodeAnalysis"/>
diff --git a/java/java-analysis-impl/src/com/intellij/uast/UastElementAnchorProvider.java b/java/java-analysis-impl/src/com/intellij/uast/UastElementAnchorProvider.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 9134f5d86a30..000000000000
--- a/java/java-analysis-impl/src/com/intellij/uast/UastElementAnchorProvider.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,56 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright 2000-2017 JetBrains s.r.o.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
- * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- * limitations under the License.
- */
-package com.intellij.uast;
-
-import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
-import com.intellij.psi.PsiElement;
-import com.intellij.psi.impl.smartPointers.SmartPointerAnchorProvider;
-import com.intellij.reference.SoftReference;
-import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
-import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
-import org.jetbrains.uast.UElement;
-import org.jetbrains.uast.UastContextKt;
-
-/**
- * @author yole
- * @deprecated relies on usage UElement as a PsiElement, which is considered as a bad practice (IDEA-182835),
- * and also leads to inappropriate caching of UElements
- */
-@Deprecated
-public class UastElementAnchorProvider extends SmartPointerAnchorProvider {
-  @Nullable
-  @Override
-  public PsiElement getAnchor(@NotNull PsiElement element) {
-    if (element instanceof UElement) {
-      Logger.getInstance(UastElementAnchorProvider.class)
-        .error("creating a SmartPointer on a UElement " + element +
-               ", please avoid doing that, using UElement as PsiElement is a bad practice," +
-               " use UastSmartPointer instead");
-      PsiElement psi = ((UElement)element).getPsi();
-      if (psi != null) {
-        psi.putUserData(UastContextKt.getCACHED_UELEMENT_KEY(), new SoftReference<>((UElement)element));
-      }
-      return psi;
-    }
-    return null;
-  }
-
-  @Nullable
-  @Override
-  public PsiElement restoreElement(@NotNull PsiElement anchor) {
-    return (PsiElement)UastContextKt.toUElement(anchor);
-  }
-}
diff --git a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/UastContext.kt b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/UastContext.kt
index e07eaab0234c..4004b50b86cf 100644
--- a/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/UastContext.kt
+++ b/uast/uast-common/src/org/jetbrains/uast/UastContext.kt
@@ -17,13 +17,7 @@ package org.jetbrains.uast
 
 import com.intellij.lang.Language
 import com.intellij.openapi.project.Project
-import com.intellij.openapi.util.Key
 import com.intellij.psi.*
-import com.intellij.reference.SoftReference
-
-@Deprecated("no proper caching for UAST is implemented, please avoid relying on this key")
-internal val CACHED_UELEMENT_KEY: Key<SoftReference<UElement>> = Key.create<SoftReference<UElement>>("org.jetbrains.uast.cachedElement")
-
 
 @Deprecated("use UastFacade or UastLanguagePlugin instead", ReplaceWith("UastFacade"))
 class UastContext(val project: Project) : UastLanguagePlugin by UastFacade {
@@ -60,11 +54,6 @@ object UastFacade : UastLanguagePlugin {
   override fun isFileSupported(fileName: String): Boolean = languagePlugins.any { it.isFileSupported(fileName) }
 
   override fun convertElement(element: PsiElement, parent: UElement?, requiredType: Class<out UElement>?): UElement? {
-    val cachedElement = element.getUserData(CACHED_UELEMENT_KEY)?.get()
-    if (cachedElement != null) {
-      return if (requiredType == null || requiredType.isInstance(cachedElement)) cachedElement else null
-    }
-
     return findPlugin(element)?.convertElement(element, parent, requiredType)
   }
 
@@ -72,12 +61,6 @@ object UastFacade : UastLanguagePlugin {
     if (element is PsiWhiteSpace) {
       return null
     }
-
-    val cachedElement = element.getUserData(CACHED_UELEMENT_KEY)?.get()
-    if (cachedElement != null) {
-      return if (requiredType == null || requiredType.isInstance(cachedElement)) cachedElement else null
-    }
-
     return findPlugin(element)?.convertElementWithParent(element, requiredType)
   }