diff --git a/includes/AbuseFilterHooks.php b/includes/AbuseFilterHooks.php
index 41d4271a8..6ddfe8b7c 100644
--- a/includes/AbuseFilterHooks.php
+++ b/includes/AbuseFilterHooks.php
@@ -166,20 +166,21 @@ class AbuseFilterHooks {
 		$text = AbuseFilter::contentToString( $content );
 
 		$title = $context->getTitle();
+		$logger = LoggerFactory::getInstance( 'AbuseFilter' );
 		if ( $title === null ) {
 			// T144265: This *should* never happen.
-			$logger = LoggerFactory::getInstance( 'AbuseFilter' );
 			$logger->warning( __METHOD__ . ' received a null title.' );
 			return Status::newGood();
 		}
-
-		if ( $title->canExist() && $title->exists() ) {
-			// Make sure we load the latest text saved in database (bug 31656)
-			$page = $context->getWikiPage();
-		} else {
-			$page = null;
+		if ( !$title->canExist() ) {
+			// This also should be handled in EditPage or whoever is calling the hook.
+			$logger->warning( __METHOD__ . ' received a Title that cannot exist.' );
+			// Note that if the title cannot exist, there's no much point in filtering the edit anyway
+			return Status::newGood();
 		}
 
+		$page = $context->getWikiPage();
+
 		$vars = new AbuseFilterVariableHolder();
 		$builder = new RunVariableGenerator( $vars, $user, $title );
 		$vars = $builder->getEditVars( $content, $text, $summary, $slot, $page );
diff --git a/includes/VariableGenerator/RCVariableGenerator.php b/includes/VariableGenerator/RCVariableGenerator.php
index bdb70ddac..cb0b88927 100644
--- a/includes/VariableGenerator/RCVariableGenerator.php
+++ b/includes/VariableGenerator/RCVariableGenerator.php
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class RCVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 			$this->vars->setVar( 'old_wikitext', '' );
 		}
 
-		$this->addEditVars( $title );
+		$this->addEditVars( $title, \WikiPage::factory( $title ) );
 
 		return $this;
 	}
diff --git a/includes/VariableGenerator/RunVariableGenerator.php b/includes/VariableGenerator/RunVariableGenerator.php
index 1f0deab46..2f873026f 100644
--- a/includes/VariableGenerator/RunVariableGenerator.php
+++ b/includes/VariableGenerator/RunVariableGenerator.php
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * @param WikiPage|null $page
+	 * @param WikiPage $page
 	 * @param string $summary
 	 * @param Content $newcontent
 	 * @param string $text
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 	 * @throws MWException
 	 */
 	private function newVariableHolderForEdit(
-		?WikiPage $page,
+		WikiPage $page,
 		string $summary,
 		Content $newcontent,
 		string $text,
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 	 * @param string $text
 	 * @param string $summary
 	 * @param string $slot
-	 * @param WikiPage|null $page
+	 * @param WikiPage $page
 	 * @return AbuseFilterVariableHolder|null
 	 */
 	public function getEditVars(
@@ -161,17 +161,17 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 		string $text,
 		string $summary,
 		$slot,
-		WikiPage $page = null
+		WikiPage $page
 	) : ?AbuseFilterVariableHolder {
-		$oldContent = null;
-
-		if ( $page !== null ) {
+		if ( $this->title->exists() ) {
 			$filterText = $this->getEditTextForFiltering( $page, $content, $slot );
 			if ( $filterText === null ) {
 				return null;
 			}
 			list( $oldContent, $oldAfText, $text ) = $filterText;
 		} else {
+			// Optimization
+			$oldContent = null;
 			$oldAfText = '';
 		}
 
@@ -262,8 +262,8 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 		// We only have the upload comment and page text when using the UploadVerifyUpload hook
 		if ( $summary !== null && $text !== null ) {
 			// This block is adapted from self::getTextForFiltering()
+			$page = WikiPage::factory( $this->title );
 			if ( $this->title->exists() ) {
-				$page = WikiPage::factory( $this->title );
 				$revRec = $page->getRevisionRecord();
 				if ( !$revRec ) {
 					return null;
@@ -279,7 +279,6 @@ class RunVariableGenerator extends VariableGenerator {
 				// Page text is ignored for uploads when the page already exists
 				$text = $oldtext;
 			} else {
-				$page = null;
 				$oldtext = '';
 			}
 
diff --git a/includes/VariableGenerator/VariableGenerator.php b/includes/VariableGenerator/VariableGenerator.php
index 468d5c75f..3ea30b9ff 100644
--- a/includes/VariableGenerator/VariableGenerator.php
+++ b/includes/VariableGenerator/VariableGenerator.php
@@ -161,16 +161,10 @@ class VariableGenerator {
 
 	/**
 	 * @param Title $title
-	 * @param WikiPage|null $page
+	 * @param WikiPage $page
 	 * @return $this For chaining
 	 */
-	public function addEditVars( Title $title, WikiPage $page = null ) : self {
-		// NOTE: $page may end up remaining null, e.g. if $title points to a special page.
-		if ( !$page && $title->canExist() ) {
-			// TODO: The caller should do this!
-			$page = WikiPage::factory( $title );
-		}
-
+	public function addEditVars( Title $title, WikiPage $page ) : self {
 		$this->vars->setLazyLoadVar( 'edit_diff', 'diff-array',
 			[ 'oldtext-var' => 'old_wikitext', 'newtext-var' => 'new_wikitext' ] );
 		$this->vars->setLazyLoadVar( 'edit_diff_pst', 'diff-array',