diff --git a/src/dthinker.cpp b/src/dthinker.cpp
index 5dbded654..114d260df 100644
--- a/src/dthinker.cpp
+++ b/src/dthinker.cpp
@@ -332,24 +332,6 @@ void DThinker::DestroyAllThinkers ()
 	GC::FullGC();
 }
 
-// Destroy all thinkers except for player-controlled actors
-// Players are simply removed from the list of thinkers and
-// will be added back after serialization is complete.
-void DThinker::DestroyMostThinkers ()
-{
-	int i;
-
-	for (i = 0; i <= MAX_STATNUM; i++)
-	{
-		if (i != STAT_TRAVELLING)
-		{
-			DestroyMostThinkersInList (Thinkers[i], i);
-			DestroyMostThinkersInList (FreshThinkers[i], i);
-		}
-	}
-	GC::FullGC();
-}
-
 void DThinker::DestroyThinkersInList (FThinkerList &list)
 {
 	if (list.Sentinel != NULL)
@@ -364,39 +346,6 @@ void DThinker::DestroyThinkersInList (FThinkerList &list)
 	}
 }
 
-void DThinker::DestroyMostThinkersInList (FThinkerList &list, int stat)
-{
-	if (stat != STAT_PLAYER)
-	{
-		DestroyThinkersInList (list);
-	}
-	else if (list.Sentinel != NULL)
-	{ // If it's a voodoo doll, destroy it. Otherwise, simply remove
-	  // it from the list. G_FinishTravel() will find it later from
-	  // a players[].mo link and destroy it then, after copying various
-	  // information to a new player.
-		for (DThinker *probe = list.Sentinel->NextThinker; probe != list.Sentinel; probe = list.Sentinel->NextThinker)
-		{
-			if (!probe->IsKindOf(RUNTIME_CLASS(APlayerPawn)) ||		// <- should not happen
-				static_cast<AActor *>(probe)->player == NULL ||
-				static_cast<AActor *>(probe)->player->mo != probe)
-			{
-				probe->Destroy();
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				probe->Remove();
-				// Technically, this doesn't need to be in any list now, since
-				// it's only going to be found later and destroyed before ever
-				// needing to tick again, but by moving it to a separate list,
-				// I can keep my debug assertions that all thinkers are either
-				// euthanizing or in a list.
-				Thinkers[MAX_STATNUM+1].AddTail(probe);
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 void DThinker::RunThinkers ()
 {
 	int i, count;
diff --git a/src/dthinker.h b/src/dthinker.h
index 9ce8943b4..3f9647297 100644
--- a/src/dthinker.h
+++ b/src/dthinker.h
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@ public:
 	static void RunThinkers ();
 	static void RunThinkers (int statnum);
 	static void DestroyAllThinkers ();
-	static void DestroyMostThinkers ();
 	static void DestroyThinkersInList(int statnum)
 	{
 		DestroyThinkersInList(Thinkers[statnum]);
@@ -94,7 +93,6 @@ private:
 	enum no_link_type { NO_LINK };
 	DThinker(no_link_type) throw();
 	static void DestroyThinkersInList (FThinkerList &list);
-	static void DestroyMostThinkersInList (FThinkerList &list, int stat);
 	static int TickThinkers (FThinkerList *list, FThinkerList *dest);	// Returns: # of thinkers ticked
 	static void SaveList(FSerializer &arc, DThinker *node);
 	void Remove();
diff --git a/src/p_saveg.cpp b/src/p_saveg.cpp
index 20d82f67c..80c55fecc 100644
--- a/src/p_saveg.cpp
+++ b/src/p_saveg.cpp
@@ -63,17 +63,6 @@
 #include "r_renderer.h"
 #include "serializer.h"
 
-//
-// Thinkers
-//
-
-void P_DestroyThinkers(bool hubLoad)
-{
-	if (hubLoad)
-		DThinker::DestroyMostThinkers();
-	else
-		DThinker::DestroyAllThinkers();
-}
 
 //==========================================================================
 //
@@ -901,7 +890,7 @@ void G_SerializeLevel(FSerializer &arc, bool hubload)
 	Renderer->StartSerialize(arc);
 	if (arc.isReading())
 	{
-		P_DestroyThinkers(hubload);
+		DThinker::DestroyAllThinkers();
 		interpolator.ClearInterpolations();
 		arc.ReadObjects(hubload);
 	}
diff --git a/src/serializer.cpp b/src/serializer.cpp
index 7df5bd8fd..ae1c55a7a 100644
--- a/src/serializer.cpp
+++ b/src/serializer.cpp
@@ -824,14 +824,6 @@ void FSerializer::WriteObjects()
 			obj->SerializeUserVars(*this);
 			obj->Serialize(*this);
 			obj->CheckIfSerialized();
-			if (obj->IsKindOf(RUNTIME_CLASS(AActor)) &&
-				(player = static_cast<AActor *>(obj)->player) &&
-				player->mo == obj)
-			{
-				w->Key("playerindex");
-				w->Int(int(player - players));
-			}
-
 			EndObject();
 		}
 		EndArray();
@@ -895,15 +887,6 @@ void FSerializer::ReadObjects(bool hubtravel)
 						if (obj != nullptr)
 						{
 							int pindex = -1;
-							if (hubtravel)
-							{
-								// mark this as a hub travelling player. This needs to be substituted later, but that's better done when all objects have been loaded.
-								Serialize(*this, "playerindex", pindex, nullptr);
-								if (hubtravel && pindex >= 0 && pindex < MAXPLAYERS)
-								{
-									r->mPlayers[pindex] = int(i);
-								}
-							}
 							try
 							{
 								obj->SerializeUserVars(*this);
@@ -922,38 +905,6 @@ void FSerializer::ReadObjects(bool hubtravel)
 			}
 			EndArray();
 
-			// Special treatment for hub travel: We do not want the player pawn which exited the level when this snapshot was made
-			// but the one that got freshly created when the map was loaded in P_SetupLevel.
-			// The loop above marked all objects that represent a player, so now we go through them, and if a corresponding
-			// player had been spawned on map load it gets substituted here.
-
-			// The substitution does not take place inside the above loop to ensure that no changes to the loaded objects
-			// can occur afterward. At this point everything has been loaded and the substitution is a simple matter of
-			// calling DObject::StaticPointerSubstitution.
-
-			// If no corresponding player can be found among the freshly spawned ones, the one from the snapshot is kept.
-			if (hubtravel)
-			{
-				for (int i = 0; i < MAXPLAYERS; i++)
-				{
-					int pindex = r->mPlayers[i];
-					if (pindex != -1)
-					{
-						if (players[i].mo != nullptr)
-						{
-							// Destroy the old pawn before substituting the pointer so that its inventory also gets properly destroyed.
-							r->mDObjects[pindex]->Destroy();
-							DObject::StaticPointerSubstitution(r->mDObjects[pindex], players[i].mo);
-							r->mDObjects[pindex] = players[i].mo;
-						}
-						else
-						{
-							players[i].mo = static_cast<APlayerPawn*>(r->mDObjects[pindex]);
-						}
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
 			DThinker::bSerialOverride = false;
 			assert(!founderrors);
 			if (founderrors)