diff --git a/include/jemalloc/internal/background_thread_externs.h b/include/jemalloc/internal/background_thread_externs.h
index a2d79adf..6ae3c8d8 100644
--- a/include/jemalloc/internal/background_thread_externs.h
+++ b/include/jemalloc/internal/background_thread_externs.h
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 #define JEMALLOC_INTERNAL_BACKGROUND_THREAD_EXTERNS_H
 
 extern bool opt_background_thread;
-extern ssize_t opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms;
 extern size_t opt_max_background_threads;
 extern malloc_mutex_t background_thread_lock;
 extern atomic_b_t background_thread_enabled_state;
@@ -16,8 +15,6 @@ bool background_threads_disable(tsd_t *tsd);
 bool background_thread_is_started(background_thread_info_t* info);
 void background_thread_wakeup_early(background_thread_info_t *info,
     nstime_t *remaining_sleep);
-void background_thread_interval_check(tsdn_t *tsdn, arena_t *arena,
-    decay_t *decay, size_t npages_new);
 void background_thread_prefork0(tsdn_t *tsdn);
 void background_thread_prefork1(tsdn_t *tsdn);
 void background_thread_postfork_parent(tsdn_t *tsdn);
diff --git a/src/background_thread.c b/src/background_thread.c
index 69ef983f..ac171c37 100644
--- a/src/background_thread.c
+++ b/src/background_thread.c
@@ -13,13 +13,6 @@ JEMALLOC_DIAGNOSTIC_DISABLE_SPURIOUS
 /* Read-only after initialization. */
 bool opt_background_thread = BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFAULT;
 size_t opt_max_background_threads = MAX_BACKGROUND_THREAD_LIMIT + 1;
-/*
- * This is disabled (and set to -1) if the HPA is.  If the HPA is enabled,
- * malloc_conf initialization sets it to
- * BACKGROUND_THREAD_HPA_INTERVAL_MAX_DEFAULT_WHEN_ENABLED.
- */
-ssize_t opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms =
-    BACKGROUND_THREAD_HPA_INTERVAL_MAX_UNINITIALIZED;
 
 /* Used for thread creation, termination and stats. */
 malloc_mutex_t background_thread_lock;
@@ -60,7 +53,7 @@ pthread_create_wrapper(pthread_t *__restrict thread, const pthread_attr_t *attr,
 bool background_thread_create(tsd_t *tsd, unsigned arena_ind) NOT_REACHED
 bool background_threads_enable(tsd_t *tsd) NOT_REACHED
 bool background_threads_disable(tsd_t *tsd) NOT_REACHED
-bool background_thread_running(background_thread_info_t *info) NOT_REACHED
+bool background_thread_is_started(background_thread_info_t *info) NOT_REACHED
 void background_thread_wakeup_early(background_thread_info_t *info,
     nstime_t *remaining_sleep) NOT_REACHED
 void background_thread_prefork0(tsdn_t *tsdn) NOT_REACHED
@@ -593,7 +586,7 @@ background_thread_wakeup_early(background_thread_info_t *info,
 	 * we know that background thread wakes up soon, so the time to cache
 	 * the just freed memory is bounded and low.
 	 */
-	if (remaining_sleep && nstime_ns(remaining_sleep) <
+	if (remaining_sleep != NULL && nstime_ns(remaining_sleep) <
 	    BACKGROUND_THREAD_MIN_INTERVAL_NS) {
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/src/ctl.c b/src/ctl.c
index 9647478d..42ded601 100644
--- a/src/ctl.c
+++ b/src/ctl.c
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ CTL_PROTO(opt_oversize_threshold)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_background_thread)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_mutex_max_spin)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_max_background_threads)
-CTL_PROTO(opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_dirty_decay_ms)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_muzzy_decay_ms)
 CTL_PROTO(opt_stats_print)
@@ -427,8 +426,6 @@ static const ctl_named_node_t opt_node[] = {
 	{NAME("mutex_max_spin"),	CTL(opt_mutex_max_spin)},
 	{NAME("background_thread"),	CTL(opt_background_thread)},
 	{NAME("max_background_threads"),	CTL(opt_max_background_threads)},
-	{NAME("background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms"),
-		CTL(opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms)},
 	{NAME("dirty_decay_ms"), CTL(opt_dirty_decay_ms)},
 	{NAME("muzzy_decay_ms"), CTL(opt_muzzy_decay_ms)},
 	{NAME("stats_print"),	CTL(opt_stats_print)},
@@ -2148,8 +2145,6 @@ CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_mutex_max_spin, opt_mutex_max_spin, int64_t)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_oversize_threshold, opt_oversize_threshold, size_t)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_background_thread, opt_background_thread, bool)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_max_background_threads, opt_max_background_threads, size_t)
-CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms,
-    opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms, ssize_t)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_dirty_decay_ms, opt_dirty_decay_ms, ssize_t)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_muzzy_decay_ms, opt_muzzy_decay_ms, ssize_t)
 CTL_RO_NL_GEN(opt_stats_print, opt_stats_print, bool)
diff --git a/src/jemalloc.c b/src/jemalloc.c
index 66e36855..18b54520 100644
--- a/src/jemalloc.c
+++ b/src/jemalloc.c
@@ -1416,10 +1416,6 @@ malloc_conf_init_helper(sc_data_t *sc_data, unsigned bin_shard_sizes[SC_NBINS],
 					   CONF_CHECK_MIN, CONF_CHECK_MAX,
 					   true);
 			CONF_HANDLE_BOOL(opt_hpa, "hpa")
-			CONF_HANDLE_SSIZE_T(
-			    opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms,
-			    "background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms", -1,
-			    SSIZE_MAX)
 			CONF_HANDLE_SIZE_T(opt_hpa_opts.slab_max_alloc,
 			    "hpa_slab_max_alloc", PAGE, HUGEPAGE,
 			    CONF_CHECK_MIN, CONF_CHECK_MAX, true);
@@ -1658,11 +1654,6 @@ malloc_conf_init(sc_data_t *sc_data, unsigned bin_shard_sizes[SC_NBINS]) {
 	malloc_conf_init_helper(NULL, NULL, true, opts_cache, buf);
 	malloc_conf_init_helper(sc_data, bin_shard_sizes, false, opts_cache,
 	    NULL);
-	if (opt_hpa && opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms
-	    == BACKGROUND_THREAD_HPA_INTERVAL_MAX_UNINITIALIZED) {
-		opt_background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms =
-		    BACKGROUND_THREAD_HPA_INTERVAL_MAX_DEFAULT_WHEN_ENABLED;
-	}
 }
 
 #undef MALLOC_CONF_NSOURCES
diff --git a/src/pa.c b/src/pa.c
index a29e10b6..249de24a 100644
--- a/src/pa.c
+++ b/src/pa.c
@@ -245,19 +245,6 @@ pa_shard_do_deferred_work(tsdn_t *tsdn, pa_shard_t *shard) {
 	}
 }
 
-static inline uint64_t
-pa_shard_ns_until_purge(tsdn_t *tsdn, decay_t *decay, size_t npages) {
-	if (malloc_mutex_trylock(tsdn, &decay->mtx)) {
-		/* Use minimal interval if decay is contended. */
-		return BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN;
-	}
-	uint64_t result = decay_ns_until_purge(decay, npages,
-	    ARENA_DEFERRED_PURGE_NPAGES_THRESHOLD);
-
-	malloc_mutex_unlock(tsdn, &decay->mtx);
-	return result;
-}
-
 /*
  * Get time until next deferred work ought to happen. If there are multiple
  * things that have been deferred, this function calculates the time until
@@ -265,32 +252,11 @@ pa_shard_ns_until_purge(tsdn_t *tsdn, decay_t *decay, size_t npages) {
  */
 uint64_t
 pa_shard_time_until_deferred_work(tsdn_t *tsdn, pa_shard_t *shard) {
-	uint64_t time;
-	time = pa_shard_ns_until_purge(tsdn,
-	    &shard->pac.decay_dirty,
-	    ecache_npages_get(&shard->pac.ecache_dirty));
+	uint64_t time = pai_time_until_deferred_work(tsdn, &shard->pac.pai);
 	if (time == BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN) {
 		return time;
 	}
 
-	uint64_t muzzy = pa_shard_ns_until_purge(tsdn,
-	    &shard->pac.decay_muzzy,
-	    ecache_npages_get(&shard->pac.ecache_muzzy));
-	if (muzzy < time) {
-		time = muzzy;
-		if (time == BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN) {
-			return time;
-		}
-	}
-
-	uint64_t pac = pai_time_until_deferred_work(tsdn, &shard->pac.pai);
-	if (pac < time) {
-		time = pac;
-		if (time == BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN) {
-			return time;
-		}
-	}
-
 	if (pa_shard_uses_hpa(shard)) {
 		uint64_t hpa =
 		    pai_time_until_deferred_work(tsdn, &shard->hpa_shard.pai);
diff --git a/src/pac.c b/src/pac.c
index 2221c8db..03e31972 100644
--- a/src/pac.c
+++ b/src/pac.c
@@ -208,9 +208,38 @@ pac_dalloc_impl(tsdn_t *tsdn, pai_t *self, edata_t *edata,
 	*deferred_work_generated = true;
 }
 
+static inline uint64_t
+pac_ns_until_purge(tsdn_t *tsdn, decay_t *decay, size_t npages) {
+	if (malloc_mutex_trylock(tsdn, &decay->mtx)) {
+		/* Use minimal interval if decay is contended. */
+		return BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN;
+	}
+	uint64_t result = decay_ns_until_purge(decay, npages,
+	    ARENA_DEFERRED_PURGE_NPAGES_THRESHOLD);
+
+	malloc_mutex_unlock(tsdn, &decay->mtx);
+	return result;
+}
+
 static uint64_t
 pac_time_until_deferred_work(tsdn_t *tsdn, pai_t *self) {
-	return BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MAX;
+	uint64_t time;
+	pac_t *pac = (pac_t *)self;
+
+	time = pac_ns_until_purge(tsdn,
+	    &pac->decay_dirty,
+	    ecache_npages_get(&pac->ecache_dirty));
+	if (time == BACKGROUND_THREAD_DEFERRED_MIN) {
+		return time;
+	}
+
+	uint64_t muzzy = pac_ns_until_purge(tsdn,
+	    &pac->decay_muzzy,
+	    ecache_npages_get(&pac->ecache_muzzy));
+	if (muzzy < time) {
+		time = muzzy;
+	}
+	return time;
 }
 
 bool
diff --git a/src/stats.c b/src/stats.c
index 25ee2355..7af5782a 100644
--- a/src/stats.c
+++ b/src/stats.c
@@ -1499,7 +1499,6 @@ stats_general_print(emitter_t *emitter) {
 	OPT_WRITE_CHAR_P("metadata_thp")
 	OPT_WRITE_INT64("mutex_max_spin")
 	OPT_WRITE_BOOL_MUTABLE("background_thread", "background_thread")
-	OPT_WRITE_SSIZE_T("background_thread_hpa_interval_max_ms")
 	OPT_WRITE_SSIZE_T_MUTABLE("dirty_decay_ms", "arenas.dirty_decay_ms")
 	OPT_WRITE_SSIZE_T_MUTABLE("muzzy_decay_ms", "arenas.muzzy_decay_ms")
 	OPT_WRITE_SIZE_T("lg_extent_max_active_fit")
diff --git a/test/unit/hpa_background_thread.c b/test/unit/hpa_background_thread.c
index c4686831..77d05556 100644
--- a/test/unit/hpa_background_thread.c
+++ b/test/unit/hpa_background_thread.c
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ wait_until_thread_is_enabled(unsigned arena_id) {
 		malloc_mutex_lock(tsd_tsdn(tsd), &info->mtx);
 		malloc_mutex_unlock(tsd_tsdn(tsd), &info->mtx);
 		sleeping = background_thread_indefinite_sleep(info);
-		assert_d_lt(iterations, (int)1e6,
+		assert_d_lt(iterations, UINT64_C(1000000),
 		    "Waiting for a thread to start for too long");
 	} while (!sleeping);
 }