diff --git a/java/com/facebook/yoga/YogaNodeJNI.java b/java/com/facebook/yoga/YogaNodeJNI.java
index 790b23bf..41e1a461 100644
--- a/java/com/facebook/yoga/YogaNodeJNI.java
+++ b/java/com/facebook/yoga/YogaNodeJNI.java
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ public class YogaNodeJNI extends YogaNode {
   private static final int PADDING = 2;
   private static final int BORDER = 4;
 
-  private final boolean mAvoidGlobalJNIRefs;
-
   @DoNotStrip
   private float mWidth = YogaConstants.UNDEFINED;
   @DoNotStrip
@@ -78,17 +76,15 @@ public class YogaNodeJNI extends YogaNode {
 
   private native long jni_YGNodeNew();
   public YogaNodeJNI() {
-    mAvoidGlobalJNIRefs = false;
     mNativePointer = jni_YGNodeNew();
     if (mNativePointer == 0) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to allocate native memory");
     }
   }
 
-  private native long jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(long configPointer, boolean avoidGlobalJNIRefs);
+  private native long jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(long configPointer);
   public YogaNodeJNI(YogaConfig config) {
-    mAvoidGlobalJNIRefs = config.avoidGlobalJNIRefs;
-    mNativePointer = jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(config.mNativePointer, mAvoidGlobalJNIRefs);
+    mNativePointer = jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(config.mNativePointer);
     if (mNativePointer == 0) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to allocate native memory");
     }
@@ -231,21 +227,19 @@ public class YogaNodeJNI extends YogaNode {
     long[] nativePointers = null;
     YogaNodeJNI[] nodes = null;
 
-    if (mAvoidGlobalJNIRefs) {
-      ArrayList<YogaNodeJNI> n = new ArrayList<>();
-      n.add(this);
-      for (int i = 0; i < n.size(); ++i) {
-        List<YogaNodeJNI> children  = n.get(i).mChildren;
-        if (children != null) {
-          n.addAll(children);
-        }
+    ArrayList<YogaNodeJNI> n = new ArrayList<>();
+    n.add(this);
+    for (int i = 0; i < n.size(); ++i) {
+      List<YogaNodeJNI> children  = n.get(i).mChildren;
+      if (children != null) {
+        n.addAll(children);
       }
+    }
 
-      nodes = n.toArray(new YogaNodeJNI[n.size()]);
-      nativePointers = new long[nodes.length];
-      for (int i = 0; i < nodes.length; ++i) {
-        nativePointers[i] = nodes[i].mNativePointer;
-      }
+    nodes = n.toArray(new YogaNodeJNI[n.size()]);
+    nativePointers = new long[nodes.length];
+    for (int i = 0; i < nodes.length; ++i) {
+      nativePointers[i] = nodes[i].mNativePointer;
     }
 
     jni_YGNodeCalculateLayout(mNativePointer, width, height, nativePointers, nodes);
diff --git a/java/jni/YGJNI.cpp b/java/jni/YGJNI.cpp
index f1d9feaa..71f04c6f 100644
--- a/java/jni/YGJNI.cpp
+++ b/java/jni/YGJNI.cpp
@@ -89,11 +89,7 @@ public:
 };
 
 struct YGNodeContext {
-  weak_ref<jobject>* ygNodeJObjectRef{nullptr};
   int edgeSetFlag = 0;
-  ~YGNodeContext() {
-    delete ygNodeJObjectRef;
-  }
 };
 
 const int MARGIN = 1;
@@ -107,13 +103,7 @@ static inline YGNodeContext* ygNodeRefToYGNodeContext(YGNodeRef node) {
 static inline local_ref<JYogaNode> YGNodeJobject(
     YGNodeRef node,
     void* layoutContext) {
-  if (layoutContext == nullptr) {
-    return (reinterpret_cast<weak_ref<JYogaNode>*>(
-                ygNodeRefToYGNodeContext(node)->ygNodeJObjectRef))
-        ->lockLocal();
-  } else {
-    return reinterpret_cast<PtrJNodeMap*>(layoutContext)->ref(node);
-  }
+  return reinterpret_cast<PtrJNodeMap*>(layoutContext)->ref(node);
 }
 
 static void YGTransferLayoutDirection(
@@ -320,25 +310,20 @@ static int YGJNILogFunc(
   return result;
 }
 
-YGNodeContext* createYGNodeContext(alias_ref<jobject> thiz) {
-  YGNodeContext* ygNodeContext = new YGNodeContext();
-  ygNodeContext->ygNodeJObjectRef = new weak_ref<jobject>(make_weak(thiz));
-  return ygNodeContext;
+YGNodeContext* createYGNodeContext() {
+  return new YGNodeContext();
 }
 
-jlong jni_YGNodeNew(alias_ref<jobject> thiz) {
+jlong jni_YGNodeNew(alias_ref<jobject>) {
   const YGNodeRef node = YGNodeNew();
-  node->setContext(createYGNodeContext(thiz));
+  node->setContext(createYGNodeContext());
   node->setPrintFunc(YGPrint);
   return reinterpret_cast<jlong>(node);
 }
 
-jlong jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(
-    alias_ref<jobject> thiz,
-    jlong configPointer,
-    jboolean avoidGlobalJNIRefs) {
+jlong jni_YGNodeNewWithConfig(alias_ref<jobject>, jlong configPointer) {
   const YGNodeRef node = YGNodeNewWithConfig(_jlong2YGConfigRef(configPointer));
-  node->setContext(createYGNodeContext(avoidGlobalJNIRefs ? nullptr : thiz));
+  node->setContext(createYGNodeContext());
   return reinterpret_cast<jlong>(node);
 }
 
@@ -817,7 +802,7 @@ static void YGNodeSetStyleInputs(
 }
 
 void jni_YGNodeSetStyleInputs(
-    alias_ref<jobject> thiz,
+    alias_ref<jobject>,
     jlong nativePointer,
     alias_ref<JArrayFloat> styleInputs,
     jint size) {