diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/cross_project_reference_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/cross_project_reference_spec.rb
index 6490d6f7a4260a71966ef5250dddf6847aeea07b..8d4f9e403a603bfe37c1f6d22fa3df75f0e13dcf 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/cross_project_reference_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/cross_project_reference_spec.rb
@@ -2,20 +2,16 @@ require 'spec_helper'
 
 module Gitlab::Markdown
   describe CrossProjectReference do
-    # context in the html-pipeline sense, not in the rspec sense
-    let(:context) do
-      {
-        current_user: double('user'),
-        project: double('project')
-      }
-    end
-
     include described_class
 
     describe '#project_from_ref' do
       context 'when no project was referenced' do
         it 'returns the project from context' do
-          expect(project_from_ref(nil)).to eq context[:project]
+          project = double
+
+          allow(self).to receive(:context).and_return({ project: project })
+
+          expect(project_from_ref(nil)).to eq project
         end
       end
 
@@ -26,17 +22,13 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
       end
 
       context 'when referenced project exists' do
-        let(:project2) { double('referenced project') }
+        it 'returns the referenced project' do
+          project2 = double('referenced project')
 
-        before do
           expect(Project).to receive(:find_with_namespace).
             with('cross/reference').and_return(project2)
-        end
 
-        context 'and the user has permission to read it' do
-          it 'returns the referenced project' do
-            expect(project_from_ref('cross/reference')).to eq project2
-          end
+          expect(project_from_ref('cross/reference')).to eq project2
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/user_reference_filter_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/user_reference_filter_spec.rb
index d3028cd3b88015a3d297259216041bb3b29769aa..c206cf4b7453ce2c7e040e8002d8b526cb1b7aaf 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/user_reference_filter_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/markdown/user_reference_filter_spec.rb
@@ -80,20 +80,15 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
 
     context 'mentioning a group' do
       let(:group)     { create(:group) }
-      let(:user)      { create(:user) }
       let(:reference) { group.to_reference }
 
-      before do
-        group.add_developer(user)
-      end
-
       it 'links to the Group' do
-        doc = filter("Hey #{reference}", current_user: user)
+        doc = filter("Hey #{reference}")
         expect(doc.css('a').first.attr('href')).to eq urls.group_url(group)
       end
 
       it 'includes a data-group-id attribute' do
-        doc = filter("Hey #{reference}", current_user: user)
+        doc = filter("Hey #{reference}")
         link = doc.css('a').first
 
         expect(link).to have_attribute('data-group-id')
@@ -101,7 +96,7 @@ module Gitlab::Markdown
       end
 
       it 'adds to the results hash' do
-        result = pipeline_result("Hey #{reference}", current_user: user)
+        result = pipeline_result("Hey #{reference}")
         expect(result[:references][:user]).to eq group.users
       end
     end