diff --git a/lib/runner/extensions/item.command.js b/lib/runner/extensions/item.command.js
index 5820b280a..292ffc3e3 100644
--- a/lib/runner/extensions/item.command.js
+++ b/lib/runner/extensions/item.command.js
@@ -188,8 +188,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
                         var request = result.request,
                             response = result.response,
-                            cookies = result.cookies,
-                            auth = result.item.getAuth();
+                            cookies = result.cookies;
 
                         if ((stopOnError || stopOnFailure) && requestError) {
                             this.triggers.item(null, coords, item); // @todo - should this trigger receive error?
@@ -212,11 +211,6 @@ module.exports = {
                         // set cookies for this transaction
                         cookies && (ctxTemplate.cookies = cookies);
 
-                        // update the item auth to prevent loss of auth state
-                        // @note this is a hack because the auth architecture is messy, and there is some confusion
-                        // between `originalItem` and `item`.
-                        auth && (item.auth = auth);
-
                         // the context template also has a test object to store assertions
                         ctxTemplate.tests = {}; // @todo remove
 
diff --git a/lib/runner/replay-controller.js b/lib/runner/replay-controller.js
index 294dc1a09..24cb4030f 100644
--- a/lib/runner/replay-controller.js
+++ b/lib/runner/replay-controller.js
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 var _ = require('lodash'),
-    createItemContext = require('./create-item-context'),
 
     // total number of replays allowed
     MAX_REPLAY_COUNT = 3,
@@ -51,8 +50,7 @@ _.assign(ReplayController.prototype, /** @lends ReplayController.prototype */{
             abortOnError: true
         }, desiredPayload);
 
-        // create item context from the new item
-        payload.context = createItemContext(payload, context);
+        payload.context = context;
 
         this.run.immediate('httprequest', payload)
             .done(function (response) {