diff --git a/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php b/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
index 761c2745f..d973acbaa 100644
--- a/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
+++ b/includes/formatters/BasicFormatter.php
@@ -46,14 +46,6 @@ class EchoBasicFormatter extends EchoNotificationFormatter {
 	 */
 	protected $language;
 
-	/**
-	 * Required parameters
-	 * @param array
-	 */
-	protected $requiredParameters = array (
-		'title-message'
-	);
-
 	/**
 	 * Data for constructing bundle message, data in this array
 	 * should be used in function processParams()
@@ -75,6 +67,11 @@ class EchoBasicFormatter extends EchoNotificationFormatter {
 	public function __construct( $params ) {
 		parent::__construct( $params );
 
+		if ( !isset( $params['title-message'] ) ) {
+			// Required, no default value set
+			throw new InvalidArgumentException( "'title-message' parameter not set" );
+		}
+
 		// Set up default params if any are missing
 		$params = $this->setDefaultParams( $params );
 
diff --git a/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php b/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
index 10e105127..3bd0d89b5 100644
--- a/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
+++ b/includes/formatters/NotificationFormatter.php
@@ -37,11 +37,6 @@ abstract class EchoNotificationFormatter {
 	 */
 	protected $parameters;
 
-	/**
-	 * List of parameters that must exist in $this->$parameters
-	 */
-	protected $requiredParameters = array();
-
 	/**
 	 * Creates an instance of the given class with the given parameters.
 	 * @param $parameters array Associative array of parameters
@@ -49,16 +44,6 @@ abstract class EchoNotificationFormatter {
 	 */
 	public function __construct( array $parameters ) {
 		$this->parameters = $parameters;
-
-		$missingParameters = array_diff( $this->requiredParameters, array_keys( $parameters ) );
-
-		if ( $missingParameters ) {
-			throw new MWException(
-				"Missing required parameters for " .
-					get_class( $this ) . ":" .
-					implode( " ", $missingParameters )
-			);
-		}
 	}
 
 	/**