diff --git a/filter/emoticon/filter.php b/filter/emoticon/filter.php
index 2aad78cf16a..d579bf65b9f 100644
--- a/filter/emoticon/filter.php
+++ b/filter/emoticon/filter.php
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class filter_emoticon extends moodle_text_filter {
             // be stripped. therefore, we do nothing
             return $text;
         }
-        if (in_array($options['originalformat'], explode(',', $this->get_global_config('formats')))) {
+        if (in_array($options['originalformat'], explode(',', get_config('filter_emoticon', 'formats')))) {
             $this->replace_emoticons($text);
         }
         return $text;
@@ -58,20 +58,6 @@ class filter_emoticon extends moodle_text_filter {
     // internal implementation starts here
     ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-    /**
-     * Returns the global filter setting
-     *
-     * If the $name is provided, returns single value. Otherwise returns all
-     * global settings in object. Returns null if the named setting is not
-     * found.
-     *
-     * @param mixed $name optional config variable name, defaults to null for all
-     * @return string|object|null
-     */
-    protected function get_global_config($name=null) {
-        return get_config(get_class($this), $name);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Replace emoticons found in the text with their images
      *
diff --git a/filter/emoticon/tests/filter_test.php b/filter/emoticon/tests/filter_test.php
index 38b69ccb36a..8aba2227591 100644
--- a/filter/emoticon/tests/filter_test.php
+++ b/filter/emoticon/tests/filter_test.php
@@ -69,6 +69,6 @@ class testable_filter_emoticon extends filter_emoticon {
         // Use this context for filtering.
         $this->context = context_system::instance();
         // Define FORMAT_HTML as only one filtering in DB.
-        set_config('formats', implode(',', array(FORMAT_HTML)), get_class($this));
+        set_config('formats', implode(',', array(FORMAT_HTML)), 'filter_emoticon');
     }
 }
diff --git a/filter/urltolink/filter.php b/filter/urltolink/filter.php
index 5d270ebc947..b232edae8b8 100644
--- a/filter/urltolink/filter.php
+++ b/filter/urltolink/filter.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ class filter_urltolink extends moodle_text_filter {
             // be stripped. therefore, we do nothing
             return $text;
         }
-        if (in_array($options['originalformat'], explode(',', $this->get_global_config('formats')))) {
+        if (in_array($options['originalformat'], explode(',', get_config('filter_urltolink', 'formats')))) {
             $this->convert_urls_into_links($text);
         }
         return $text;
@@ -61,20 +61,6 @@ class filter_urltolink extends moodle_text_filter {
     // internal implementation starts here
     ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-    /**
-     * Returns the global filter setting
-     *
-     * If the $name is provided, returns single value. Otherwise returns all
-     * global settings in object. Returns null if the named setting is not
-     * found.
-     *
-     * @param mixed $name optional config variable name, defaults to null for all
-     * @return string|object|null
-     */
-    protected function get_global_config($name=null) {
-        return get_config('filter_urltolink', $name);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Given some text this function converts any URLs it finds into HTML links
      *
@@ -162,7 +148,7 @@ class filter_urltolink extends moodle_text_filter {
             $text = str_replace(array_keys($ignoretags),$ignoretags,$text);
         }
 
-        if ($this->get_global_config('embedimages')) {
+        if (get_config('filter_urltolink', 'embedimages')) {
             // now try to inject the images, this code was originally in the mediapluing filter
             // this may be useful only if somebody relies on the fact the links in FORMAT_MOODLE get converted
             // to URLs which in turn change to real images
diff --git a/lib/filterlib.php b/lib/filterlib.php
index ba447f53705..ba89fd23ede 100644
--- a/lib/filterlib.php
+++ b/lib/filterlib.php
@@ -233,7 +233,8 @@ class filter_manager {
     }
 
     /**
-     * @deprecated Since Moodle 3.0. This was used by the old text filtering system, but no more.
+     * @deprecated Since Moodle 3.0 MDL-50491. This was used by the old text filtering system, but no more.
+     * @todo MDL-50632 This will be deleted in Moodle 3.2.
      * @param context $context the context.
      * @return string the hash.
      */
@@ -385,7 +386,8 @@ abstract class moodle_text_filter {
     }
 
     /**
-     * @deprecated Since Moodle 3.0. This was used by the old text filtering system, but no more.
+     * @deprecated Since Moodle 3.0 MDL-50491. This was used by the old text filtering system, but no more.
+     * @todo MDL-50632 This will be deleted in Moodle 3.2.
      * @return string The class name of the current class
      */
     public function hash() {
diff --git a/lib/tests/weblib_format_text_test.php b/lib/tests/weblib_format_text_test.php
index dce2330a22b..deecb6fd943 100644
--- a/lib/tests/weblib_format_text_test.php
+++ b/lib/tests/weblib_format_text_test.php
@@ -49,6 +49,14 @@ class core_weblib_format_text_testcase extends advanced_testcase {
     }
 
     public function test_format_text_format_plain() {
+        // Note FORMAT_PLAIN does not filter ever, no matter we ask for filtering.
+        $this->resetAfterTest();
+        filter_set_global_state('emoticon', TEXTFILTER_ON);
+        $this->assertEquals(':-)',
+                format_text(':-)', FORMAT_PLAIN));
+    }
+
+    public function test_format_text_format_plain_no_filters() {
         $this->resetAfterTest();
         filter_set_global_state('emoticon', TEXTFILTER_ON);
         $this->assertEquals(':-)',