diff --git a/classes/db/prefs.php b/classes/db/prefs.php
index 44581dbcb..821216622 100644
--- a/classes/db/prefs.php
+++ b/classes/db/prefs.php
@@ -1,173 +1,12 @@
 <?php
 class Db_Prefs {
-	private $pdo;
-	private static $instance;
-	private $cache;
-
-	function __construct() {
-		$this->pdo = Db::pdo();
-		$this->cache = [];
-		$this->cache_prefs();
-	}
-
-	private function __clone() {
-		//
-	}
-
-	public static function get() {
-		if (self::$instance == null)
-			self::$instance = new self();
-
-		return self::$instance;
-	}
-
-	private function cache_prefs() {
-		if (!empty($_SESSION["uid"])) {
-			$profile = $_SESSION["profile"] ?? false;
-
-			if (!is_numeric($profile) || !$profile || get_schema_version() < 63) $profile = null;
-
-			$sth = $this->pdo->prepare("SELECT up.pref_name, pt.type_name, up.value
-				 FROM	ttrss_user_prefs up
-					JOIN ttrss_prefs p ON (up.pref_name = p.pref_name)
-					JOIN ttrss_prefs_types pt ON (p.type_id = pt.id)
-				WHERE
-					up.pref_name NOT LIKE '_MOBILE%' AND
-					(profile = :profile OR (:profile IS NULL AND profile IS NULL)) AND
-					owner_uid = :uid");
-
-			$sth->execute([":profile" => $profile, ":uid" => $_SESSION["uid"]]);
-
-			while ($row = $sth->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)) {
-				$pref_name = $row["pref_name"];
-
-				$this->cache[$pref_name] = [
-					"type" => $row["type_name"],
-					"value" => $row["value"]
-				];
-			}
-		}
-	}
+	// this class is a stub for the time being (to be removed)
 
 	function read($pref_name, $user_id = false, $die_on_error = false) {
-
-		if (!$user_id) {
-			$user_id = $_SESSION["uid"];
-			$profile = $_SESSION["profile"] ?? false;
-		} else {
-			$profile = false;
-		}
-
-		if ($user_id == ($_SESSION['uid'] ?? false) && isset($this->cache[$pref_name])) {
-			$tuple = $this->cache[$pref_name];
-			return $this->convert($tuple["value"], $tuple["type"]);
-		}
-
-		if (!is_numeric($profile) || !$profile || get_schema_version() < 63) $profile = null;
-
-		$sth = $this->pdo->prepare("SELECT up.pref_name, pt.type_name, up.value
-			FROM ttrss_user_prefs up
-				JOIN ttrss_prefs p ON (up.pref_name = p.pref_name)
-				JOIN ttrss_prefs_types pt ON (p.type_id = pt.id)
-			WHERE
-				up.pref_name = :pref_name AND
-				(profile = :profile OR (:profile IS NULL AND profile IS NULL)) AND
-				owner_uid = :uid");
-
-		$sth->execute([":uid" => $user_id, ":profile" => $profile, ":pref_name" => $pref_name]);
-
-		if ($row = $sth->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)) {
-			$value = $row["value"];
-			$type_name = $row["type_name"];
-
-			if ($user_id == ($_SESSION["uid"] ?? false)) {
-				$this->cache[$pref_name] = [
-					"type" => $row["type_name"],
-					"value" => $row["value"]
-				];
-			}
-
-			return $this->convert($value, $type_name);
-
-		} else if ($die_on_error) {
-			user_error("Failed retrieving preference $pref_name for user $user_id", E_USER_ERROR);
-		} else {
-			user_error("Failed retrieving preference $pref_name for user $user_id", E_USER_WARNING);
-		}
-
-		return null;
-	}
-
-	function convert($value, $type_name) {
-		if ($type_name == "bool") {
-			return $value == "true";
-		} else if ($type_name == "integer") {
-			return (int)$value;
-		} else {
-			return $value;
-		}
+		return get_pref($pref_name, $user_id);
 	}
 
 	function write($pref_name, $value, $user_id = false, $strip_tags = true) {
-		if ($strip_tags) $value = strip_tags($value);
-
-		if (!$user_id) {
-			$user_id = $_SESSION["uid"];
-			@$profile = $_SESSION["profile"] ?? false;
-		} else {
-			$profile = null;
-		}
-
-		if (!is_numeric($profile) || !$profile || get_schema_version() < 63) $profile = null;
-
-		$type_name = "";
-		$current_value = "";
-
-		if (isset($this->cache[$pref_name])) {
-			$type_name = $this->cache[$pref_name]["type"];
-			$current_value = $this->cache[$pref_name]["value"];
-		}
-
-		if (!$type_name) {
-			$sth = $this->pdo->prepare("SELECT type_name
-				FROM ttrss_prefs,ttrss_prefs_types
-				WHERE pref_name = ? AND type_id = ttrss_prefs_types.id");
-			$sth->execute([$pref_name]);
-
-			if ($row = $sth->fetch())
-				$type_name = $row["type_name"];
-
-		} else if ($current_value == $value) {
-			return;
-		}
-
-		if ($type_name) {
-			if ($type_name == "bool") {
-				if ($value == "1" || $value == "true") {
-					$value = "true";
-				} else {
-					$value = "false";
-				}
-			} else if ($type_name == "integer") {
-				$value = (int)$value;
-			}
-
-			if ($pref_name == 'USER_TIMEZONE' && $value == '') {
-				$value = 'UTC';
-			}
-
-			$sth = $this->pdo->prepare("UPDATE ttrss_user_prefs SET
-				value = :value WHERE pref_name = :pref_name
-					AND (profile = :profile OR (:profile IS NULL AND profile IS NULL))
-					AND owner_uid = :uid");
-
-			$sth->execute([":pref_name" => $pref_name, ":value" => $value, ":uid" => $user_id, ":profile" => $profile]);
-
-			if ($user_id == $_SESSION["uid"]) {
-				$this->cache[$pref_name]["type"] = $type_name;
-				$this->cache[$pref_name]["value"] = $value;
-			}
-		}
+		return set_pref($pref_name, $value, $user_id, $strip_tags);
 	}
-
 }
diff --git a/include/functions.php b/include/functions.php
index 3ed024d11..8e819fac0 100644
--- a/include/functions.php
+++ b/include/functions.php
@@ -43,13 +43,11 @@
 	}
 
 	function get_pref(string $pref_name, int $owner_uid = null) {
-		return Prefs::get($pref_name, $owner_uid ? $owner_uid : $_SESSION["uid"]);
-		//return Db_Prefs::get()->read($pref_name, $user_id, $die_on_error);
+		return Prefs::get($pref_name, $owner_uid ? $owner_uid : $_SESSION["uid"], $_SESSION["profile"] ?? null);
 	}
 
 	function set_pref(string $pref_name, $value, int $owner_uid = null, bool $strip_tags = true) {
 		return Prefs::set($pref_name, $value, $owner_uid ? $owner_uid : $_SESSION["uid"], $_SESSION["profile"] ?? null, $strip_tags);
-		//return Db_Prefs::get()->write($pref_name, $value, $user_id, $strip_tags);
 	}
 
 	function get_translations() {
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index a21db6fc5..53ce612f0 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,width=device-width" />
 
 	<?php if ($_SESSION["uid"] && empty($_SESSION["safe_mode"])) {
-		$theme = get_pref("USER_CSS_THEME", false, false);
+		$theme = get_pref("USER_CSS_THEME");
 		if ($theme && theme_exists("$theme")) {
 			echo stylesheet_tag(get_theme_path($theme), 'theme_css');
 		}
diff --git a/prefs.php b/prefs.php
index 57ddbba7c..cc1181ca9 100644
--- a/prefs.php
+++ b/prefs.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,width=device-width" />
 
 	<?php if ($_SESSION["uid"] && empty($_SESSION["safe_mode"])) {
-		$theme = get_pref("USER_CSS_THEME", false, false);
+		$theme = get_pref("USER_CSS_THEME");
 		if ($theme && theme_exists("$theme")) {
 			echo stylesheet_tag(get_theme_path($theme), 'theme_css');
 		}