diff --git a/include/libtorrent/peer_connection.hpp b/include/libtorrent/peer_connection.hpp
index 99c2a19a3..627f886e9 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/peer_connection.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/peer_connection.hpp
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		}
 
 		// TODO: 2 temporary hack until the stats counters are moved out
-		// from the session_interface.
+		// from the session_interface. This is used by ut_pex and ut_metadata.
 		aux::session_interface& ses() { return m_ses; }
 
 	protected:
diff --git a/src/bt_peer_connection.cpp b/src/bt_peer_connection.cpp
index d874ed170..34dc4d582 100644
--- a/src/bt_peer_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/bt_peer_connection.cpp
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 	bt_peer_connection::~bt_peer_connection()
 	{
-		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_ses.is_single_thread());
 	}
 
 	void bt_peer_connection::on_connected()
@@ -184,7 +183,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 
 #ifndef TORRENT_DISABLE_ENCRYPTION
 		
-		boost::uint8_t out_enc_policy = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy);
+		boost::uint8_t out_enc_policy = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy);
 
 #ifdef TORRENT_USE_OPENSSL
 		// never try an encrypted connection when already using SSL
@@ -521,7 +520,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		// write the verification constant and crypto field
 		int encrypt_size = sizeof(msg) - 512 + pad_size - 40;
 
-		boost::uint8_t crypto_provide = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
+		boost::uint8_t crypto_provide = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
 
 		// this is an invalid setting, but let's just make the best of the situation
 		if ((crypto_provide & settings_pack::pe_both) == 0)
@@ -2878,12 +2877,12 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			if (!is_outgoing())
 			{
 				// select a crypto method
-				int allowed_encryption = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
+				int allowed_encryption = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
 				int crypto_select = crypto_field & allowed_encryption;
 	
 				// when prefer_rc4 is set, keep the most significant bit
 				// otherwise keep the least significant one
-				if (m_ses.settings().get_bool(settings_pack::prefer_rc4))
+				if (m_settings.get_bool(settings_pack::prefer_rc4))
 				{
 					int mask = INT_MAX;
 					while (crypto_select & (mask << 1))
@@ -2914,7 +2913,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			else // is_outgoing()
 			{
 				// check if crypto select is valid
-				int allowed_encryption = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
+				int allowed_encryption = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::allowed_enc_level);
 
 				crypto_field &= allowed_encryption; 
 				if (crypto_field == 0)
@@ -3085,7 +3084,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			// encrypted portion of handshake completed, toggle
 			// peer_info pe_support flag back to true
 			if (is_outgoing() &&
-				m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy)
+				m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy)
 					== settings_pack::pe_enabled)
 			{
 				torrent_peer* pi = peer_info_struct();
@@ -3130,7 +3129,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 #endif // TORRENT_USE_OPENSSL
 
 				if (!is_outgoing()
-					&& m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::in_enc_policy)
+					&& m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::in_enc_policy)
 						== settings_pack::pe_disabled)
 				{
 					disconnect(errors::no_incoming_encrypted, op_bittorrent);
@@ -3165,7 +3164,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 				TORRENT_ASSERT(m_state != read_pe_dhkey);
 
 				if (!is_outgoing()
-					&& m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::in_enc_policy)
+					&& m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::in_enc_policy)
 						== settings_pack::pe_forced
 					&& !m_encrypted
 					&& !is_ssl(*get_socket()))
@@ -3387,7 +3386,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			// Toggle pe_support back to false if this is a
 			// standard successful connection
 			if (is_outgoing() && !m_encrypted &&
-				m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy)
+				m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::out_enc_policy)
 					== settings_pack::pe_enabled)
 			{
 				torrent_peer* pi = peer_info_struct();
diff --git a/src/http_seed_connection.cpp b/src/http_seed_connection.cpp
index cc54f0f43..f995d5744 100644
--- a/src/http_seed_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/http_seed_connection.cpp
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 			size -= pr.length;
 		}
 
-		int proxy_type = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::proxy_type);
+		int proxy_type = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::proxy_type);
 		bool using_proxy = (proxy_type == settings_pack::http
 			|| proxy_type == settings_pack::http_pw) && !m_ssl;
 
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		}
 
 		request += " HTTP/1.1\r\n";
-		add_headers(request, m_ses.settings(), using_proxy);
+		add_headers(request, m_settings, using_proxy);
 		request += "\r\n\r\n";
 		m_first_request = false;
 
diff --git a/src/peer_connection.cpp b/src/peer_connection.cpp
index 4fa824475..cc8c6764a 100644
--- a/src/peer_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/peer_connection.cpp
@@ -3892,7 +3892,6 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	void peer_connection::on_connect_timeout()
 	{
 		m_queued_for_connection = false;
-		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_ses.is_single_thread());
 
 #if defined TORRENT_LOGGING || defined TORRENT_ERROR_LOGGING
 		boost::shared_ptr<torrent> t = m_torrent.lock();
@@ -3977,8 +3976,6 @@ namespace libtorrent
 	// 2 protocol error (client sent something invalid)
 	void peer_connection::disconnect(error_code const& ec, operation_t op, int error)
 	{
-		TORRENT_ASSERT(m_ses.is_single_thread());
-
 #if TORRENT_USE_ASSERTS
 		m_disconnect_started = true;
 #endif
@@ -6668,7 +6665,7 @@ namespace libtorrent
 		}
 
 		if (!m_disconnect_started && m_initialized
-			&& m_ses.settings().get_bool(settings_pack::close_redundant_connections))
+			&& m_settings.get_bool(settings_pack::close_redundant_connections))
 		{
 			// none of this matters if we're disconnecting anyway
 			if (t->is_upload_only() && !m_need_interest_update)
diff --git a/src/web_peer_connection.cpp b/src/web_peer_connection.cpp
index a78e38e3f..50995e50f 100644
--- a/src/web_peer_connection.cpp
+++ b/src/web_peer_connection.cpp
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ void web_peer_connection::write_request(peer_request const& r)
 		size -= pr.length;
 	}
 
-	int proxy_type = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::proxy_type);
+	int proxy_type = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::proxy_type);
 	bool using_proxy = (proxy_type == settings_pack::http
 		|| proxy_type == settings_pack::http_pw) && !m_ssl;
 
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ void web_peer_connection::write_request(peer_request const& r)
 		// assumed to be encoded in the torrent file
 		request += using_proxy ? m_url : m_path;
 		request += " HTTP/1.1\r\n";
-		add_headers(request, m_ses.settings(), using_proxy);
+		add_headers(request, m_settings, using_proxy);
 		request += "\r\nRange: bytes=";
 		request += to_string(size_type(req.piece) * info.piece_length()
 			+ req.start).elems;
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ void web_peer_connection::write_request(peer_request const& r)
 				request += escape_path(path.c_str(), path.length());
 			}
 			request += " HTTP/1.1\r\n";
-			add_headers(request, m_ses.settings(), using_proxy);
+			add_headers(request, m_settings, using_proxy);
 			request += "\r\nRange: bytes=";
 			request += to_string(f.offset).elems;
 			request += "-";
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ void web_peer_connection::on_receive(error_code const& error
 				// associated with the file we just requested. Only
 				// when it doesn't have any of the file do the following
 				int retry_time = atoi(m_parser.header("retry-after").c_str());
-				if (retry_time <= 0) retry_time = m_ses.settings().get_int(settings_pack::urlseed_wait_retry);
+				if (retry_time <= 0) retry_time = m_settings.get_int(settings_pack::urlseed_wait_retry);
 				// temporarily unavailable, retry later
 				t->retry_web_seed(this, retry_time);
 				std::string error_msg = to_string(m_parser.status_code()).elems