diff --git a/includes/NotifUser.php b/includes/NotifUser.php
index e1c0c50f5..889aa79c3 100644
--- a/includes/NotifUser.php
+++ b/includes/NotifUser.php
@@ -177,27 +177,30 @@ class MWEchoNotifUser {
 	/**
 	 * Get message count for this user.
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @return int
 	 */
-	public function getMessageCount( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA ) {
-		return $this->getNotificationCount( $cached, $dbSource, EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE );
+	public function getMessageCount() {
+		return $this->getNotificationCount( EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE );
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Get alert count for this user.
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @return int
 	 */
-	public function getAlertCount( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA ) {
-		return $this->getNotificationCount( $cached, $dbSource, EchoAttributeManager::ALERT );
+	public function getAlertCount() {
+		return $this->getNotificationCount( EchoAttributeManager::ALERT );
 	}
 
-	public function getLocalNotificationCount( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA, $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL ) {
-		return $this->getNotificationCount( $cached, $dbSource, $section, false );
+	/**
+	 * Get the number of unread local notifications in a given section. This does not include
+	 * foreign notifications, even if the user has cross-wiki notifications enabled.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $section Notification section
+	 * @return int
+	 */
+	public function getLocalNotificationCount( $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL ) {
+		return $this->getNotificationCount( $section, false );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -206,13 +209,11 @@ class MWEchoNotifUser {
 	 *
 	 * If $wgEchoCrossWikiNotifications is disabled, the $global parameter is ignored.
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @param string $section Notification section
 	 * @param bool|string $global Whether to include foreign notifications. If set to 'preference', uses the user's preference.
 	 * @return int
 	 */
-	public function getNotificationCount( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA, $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL, $global = 'preference' ) {
+	public function getNotificationCount( $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL, $global = 'preference' ) {
 		if ( $this->mUser->isAnon() ) {
 			return 0;
 		}
@@ -235,23 +236,19 @@ class MWEchoNotifUser {
 	/**
 	 * Get the timestamp of the latest unread alert
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @return bool|MWTimestamp Timestamp of latest unread alert, or false if there are no unread alerts.
 	 */
-	public function getLastUnreadAlertTime( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA ) {
-		return $this->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( $cached, $dbSource, EchoAttributeManager::ALERT );
+	public function getLastUnreadAlertTime() {
+		return $this->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( EchoAttributeManager::ALERT );
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Get the timestamp of the latest unread message
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @return bool|MWTimestamp
 	 */
-	public function getLastUnreadMessageTime( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA ) {
-		return $this->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( $cached, $dbSource, EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE );
+	public function getLastUnreadMessageTime() {
+		return $this->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -259,13 +256,11 @@ class MWEchoNotifUser {
 	 *
 	 * If $wgEchoCrossWikiNotifications is disabled, the $global parameter is ignored.
 	 *
-	 * @param bool $cached Set to false to bypass the cache. (Optional. Defaults to true)
-	 * @param int $dbSource Use master or slave database to pull count (Optional. Defaults to DB_REPLICA)
 	 * @param string $section Notification section
 	 * @param bool|string $global Whether to include foreign notifications. If set to 'preference', uses the user's preference.
 	 * @return bool|MWTimestamp Timestamp of latest unread message, or false if there are no unread messages.
 	 */
-	public function getLastUnreadNotificationTime( $cached = true, $dbSource = DB_REPLICA, $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL, $global = 'preference' ) {
+	public function getLastUnreadNotificationTime( $section = EchoAttributeManager::ALL, $global = 'preference' ) {
 		if ( $this->mUser->isAnon() ) {
 			return false;
 		}
diff --git a/includes/api/ApiEchoMarkRead.php b/includes/api/ApiEchoMarkRead.php
index 8cd60ece3..d53067c6d 100644
--- a/includes/api/ApiEchoMarkRead.php
+++ b/includes/api/ApiEchoMarkRead.php
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class ApiEchoMarkRead extends ApiBase {
 		];
 		$rawCount = 0;
 		foreach ( EchoAttributeManager::$sections as $section ) {
-			$rawSectionCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( /* $tryCache = */true, DB_REPLICA, $section );
+			$rawSectionCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( $section );
 			$result[$section]['rawcount'] = $rawSectionCount;
 			$result[$section]['count'] = EchoNotificationController::formatNotificationCount( $rawSectionCount );
 			$rawCount += $rawSectionCount;
diff --git a/includes/api/ApiEchoNotifications.php b/includes/api/ApiEchoNotifications.php
index 09db98acc..1f2b47967 100644
--- a/includes/api/ApiEchoNotifications.php
+++ b/includes/api/ApiEchoNotifications.php
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ class ApiEchoNotifications extends ApiCrossWikiBase {
 
 		$totalRawCount = 0;
 		foreach ( $sections as $section ) {
-			$rawCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( /* $tryCache = */true, DB_REPLICA, $section, $global );
+			$rawCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( $section, $global );
 			if ( $groupBySection ) {
 				$result[$section]['rawcount'] = $rawCount;
 				$result[$section]['count'] = EchoNotificationController::formatNotificationCount( $rawCount );
diff --git a/maintenance/backfillUnreadWikis.php b/maintenance/backfillUnreadWikis.php
index fb9d9e73a..432dc0536 100644
--- a/maintenance/backfillUnreadWikis.php
+++ b/maintenance/backfillUnreadWikis.php
@@ -48,11 +48,11 @@ class BackfillUnreadWikis extends Maintenance {
 				$notifUser = MWEchoNotifUser::newFromUser( $user );
 				$uw = EchoUnreadWikis::newFromUser( $user );
 				if ( $uw ) {
-					$alertCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( true, DB_REPLICA, EchoAttributeManager::ALERT, false );
-					$alertUnread = $notifUser->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( true, DB_REPLICA, EchoAttributeManager::ALERT, false );
+					$alertCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( EchoAttributeManager::ALERT, false );
+					$alertUnread = $notifUser->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( EchoAttributeManager::ALERT, false );
 
-					$msgCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( true, DB_REPLICA, EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE, false );
-					$msgUnread = $notifUser->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( true, DB_REPLICA, EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE, false );
+					$msgCount = $notifUser->getNotificationCount( EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE, false );
+					$msgUnread = $notifUser->getLastUnreadNotificationTime( EchoAttributeManager::MESSAGE, false );
 
 					if ( ( $alertCount !== 0 && $alertUnread === false ) || ( $msgCount !== 0 && $msgUnread === false ) ) {
 						// If there are alerts, there should be an alert timestamp (same for messages).