diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 9e28b18040..2ce36c0ad0 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ If you find an issue, please do file it on the repository. The [Polymer/polymer
 
 For issues with elements the team maintains, please file directly on the element's repository. If you're not sure if a bug stems from the element or the library, air toward filing it on the element and we'll move the issue if necessary.
 
-Please file issues using the issue template provided, filling out as many fields as possible.  We love examples for addressing issues - issues with a Plunkr, jsFiddle, or jsBin will be much easier for us to work on quickly. You can start with [this jsbin](http://jsbin.com/luhaxab/1/edit) which sets up the basics to demonstrate a Polymer element.
+Please file issues using the issue template provided, filling out as many fields as possible.  We love examples for addressing issues - issues with a Plunkr, jsFiddle, or jsBin will be much easier for us to work on quickly. You can start with [this jsbin](http://jsbin.com/luhaxab/edit) which sets up the basics to demonstrate a Polymer element.
 
 Occasionally we'll close issues if they appear stale or are too vague - please don't take this personally! Please feel free to re-open issues we've closed if there's something we've missed and they still need to be addressed.
 
diff --git a/lib/legacy/legacy-element-mixin.html b/lib/legacy/legacy-element-mixin.html
index bcf6922da1..ffb86dd6a6 100644
--- a/lib/legacy/legacy-element-mixin.html
+++ b/lib/legacy/legacy-element-mixin.html
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@
        * are not automatically handled. For example,
        * a user should call `distributeContent` if distribution has been
        * invalidated due to an element being added or removed from the shadowRoot
-       * that contains an insertion point (<slot>) inside its subtree.
+       * that contains an insertion point (`<slot>`) inside its subtree.
        */
       distributeContent() {
         if (window.ShadyDOM) {
diff --git a/lib/mixins/element-mixin.html b/lib/mixins/element-mixin.html
index 20dbb6f474..8e38ed1b2e 100644
--- a/lib/mixins/element-mixin.html
+++ b/lib/mixins/element-mixin.html
@@ -124,8 +124,6 @@
 
     let caseMap = Polymer.CaseMap;
 
-    const DISABLED = 'disable-upgrade';
-
     /**
      * Returns the `properties` object specifically on `klass`. Use for:
      * (1) super chain mixes togther to make `propertiesForClass` which is
@@ -453,8 +451,6 @@
       proto._bindTemplate(template);
     }
 
-    function flushPropertiesStub() {}
-
     /**
      * @polymerMixinClass
      * @unrestricted
@@ -472,7 +468,7 @@
        */
       static get observedAttributes() {
         if (!this.hasOwnProperty(JSCompiler_renameProperty('__observedAttributes', this))) {
-          let list = [DISABLED];
+          let list = [];
           let properties = propertiesForClass(this);
           for (let prop in properties) {
             list.push(Polymer.CaseMap.camelToDashCase(prop));
@@ -723,19 +719,7 @@
        * @override
        */
       attributeChangedCallback(name, old, value) {
-        // process `disable-upgrade` specially:
-        // First we see `disable-upgrade` added and disable `_flushProperties`,
-        // then when it's removed, restore regular flushing and flush.
-        // This should only be allowed before "readying".
-        if (name === DISABLED && !this.__dataInitialized) {
-          if (value !== null) {
-            this.__flushProperties = this._flushProperties;
-            this._flushProperties = flushPropertiesStub;
-          } else {
-            this._flushProperties = this.__flushProperties;
-            this._flushProperties();
-          }
-        } else if (old !== value) {
+        if (old !== value) {
           let property = caseMap.dashToCamelCase(name);
           let type = propertiesForClass(this.constructor)[property].type;
           if (!this._hasReadOnlyEffect(property)) {
diff --git a/lib/mixins/property-effects.html b/lib/mixins/property-effects.html
index 41ae03d0f6..5a54aea543 100644
--- a/lib/mixins/property-effects.html
+++ b/lib/mixins/property-effects.html
@@ -605,7 +605,7 @@
 
   /**
    * Returns true if a binding's metadata meets all the requirements to allow
-   * 2-way binding, and therefore a <property>-changed event listener should be
+   * 2-way binding, and therefore a `<property>-changed` event listener should be
    * added:
    * - used curly braces
    * - is a property (not attribute) binding
@@ -1316,7 +1316,7 @@
        *
        * The implementation makes a best-effort at binding interop:
        * Some native element properties have side-effects when
-       * re-setting the same value (e.g. setting <input>.value resets the
+       * re-setting the same value (e.g. setting `<input>.value` resets the
        * cursor position), so we do a dirty-check before setting the value.
        * However, for better interop with non-Polymer custom elements that
        * accept objects, we explicitly re-set object changes coming from the
diff --git a/lib/mixins/template-stamp.html b/lib/mixins/template-stamp.html
index 6bafd2d484..fee06c90a2 100644
--- a/lib/mixins/template-stamp.html
+++ b/lib/mixins/template-stamp.html
@@ -118,11 +118,6 @@
      */
     class TemplateStamp extends superClass {
 
-      constructor() {
-        super();
-        this.$ = null;
-      }
-
       /**
        * Scans a template to produce template metadata.
        *
@@ -136,43 +131,46 @@
        * The template metadata object returned from this method has the following
        * structure (many fields optional):
        *
+       * ```js
        *   {
        *     // Flattened list of node metadata (for nodes that generated metadata)
        *     nodeInfoList: [
        *       {
        *         // `id` attribute for any nodes with id's for generating `$` map
-       *         id: '<id>',
+       *         id: {string},
        *         // `on-event="handler"` metadata
        *         events: [
        *           {
-       *             name: '<name>'
-       *             value: '<handler name>'
+       *             name: {string},   // event name
+       *             value: {string},  // handler method name
        *           }, ...
        *         ],
        *         // Notes when the template contained a `<slot>` for shady DOM
        *         // optimization purposes
-       *         hasInsertionPoint: <boolean>,
-       *         // For nested <template> nodes, nested template metadata
-       *         templateInfo: <nested template metadata>,
+       *         hasInsertionPoint: {boolean},
+       *         // For nested `<template>`` nodes, nested template metadata
+       *         templateInfo: {object}, // nested template metadata
        *         // Metadata to allow efficient retrieval of instanced node
        *         // corresponding to this metadata
-       *         parentInfo: <reference to parent nodeInfo>,
-       *         parentIndex: <integer index in parent's `childNodes` collection>
-       *         infoIndex: <integer index of this `nodeInfo` in `templateInfo.nodeInfoList`
+       *         parentInfo: {number},   // reference to parent nodeInfo>
+       *         parentIndex: {number},  // index in parent's `childNodes` collection
+       *         infoIndex: {number},    // index of this `nodeInfo` in `templateInfo.nodeInfoList`
        *       },
        *       ...
        *     ],
        *     // When true, the template had the `strip-whitespace` attribute
        *     // or was nested in a template with that setting
-       *     stripWhitespace: <boolean>
+       *     stripWhitespace: {boolean},
        *     // For nested templates, nested template content is moved into
        *     // a document fragment stored here; this is an optimization to
        *     // avoid the cost of nested template cloning
-       *     content: <DocumentFragment>
+       *     content: {DocumentFragment}
        *   }
+       * ```
        *
        * This method kicks off a recursive treewalk as follows:
        *
+       * ```
        *    _parseTemplate <---------------------+
        *      _parseTemplateContent              |
        *        _parseTemplateNode  <------------|--+
@@ -181,6 +179,8 @@
        *          _parseTemplateNodeAttributes
        *            _parseTemplateNodeAttribute
        *
+       * ```
+       *
        * These methods may be overridden to add custom metadata about templates
        * to either `templateInfo` or `nodeInfo`.
        *
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@
        *
        * Note that the memoized template parsing process is destructive to the
        * template: attributes for bindings and declarative event listeners are
-       * removed after being noted in notes, and any nested <template>.content
+       * removed after being noted in notes, and any nested `<template>.content`
        * is removed and stored in notes as well.
        *
        * @param {HTMLTemplateElement} template Template to stamp
diff --git a/lib/utils/flattened-nodes-observer.html b/lib/utils/flattened-nodes-observer.html
index da8292d47a..fd42325d88 100644
--- a/lib/utils/flattened-nodes-observer.html
+++ b/lib/utils/flattened-nodes-observer.html
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   /**
    * Class that listens for changes (additions or removals) to
    * "flattened nodes" on a given `node`. The list of flattened nodes consists
-   * of a node's children and, for any children that are <slot> elements,
+   * of a node's children and, for any children that are `<slot>` elements,
    * the expanded flattened list of `assignedNodes`.
    * For example, if the observed node has children `<a></a><slot></slot><b></b>`
    * and the `<slot>` has one `<div>` assigned to it, then the flattened
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
    *
    * Note: the callback is called asynchronous to any changes
    * at a microtask checkpoint. This is because observation is performed using
-   * `MutationObserver` and the `<slot> element's `slotchange` event which
+   * `MutationObserver` and the `<slot>` element's `slotchange` event which
    * are asynchronous.
    *
    * @memberof Polymer
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
     /**
      * Returns the list of flattened nodes for the given `node`.
      * This list consists of a node's children and, for any children
-     * that are <slot> elements, the expanded flattened list of `assignedNodes`.
+     * that are `<slot>` elements, the expanded flattened list of `assignedNodes`.
      * For example, if the observed node has children `<a></a><slot></slot><b></b>`
      * and the `<slot>` has one `<div>` assigned to it, then the flattened
      * nodes list is `<a></a><div></div><b></b>`. If the `<slot>` has other
diff --git a/test/runner.html b/test/runner.html
index e15a8de0a5..8df2426d90 100644
--- a/test/runner.html
+++ b/test/runner.html
@@ -71,8 +71,7 @@
       'unit/logging.html',
       'unit/mixin-utils.html',
       'unit/mixin-behaviors.html',
-      'unit/render-status.html',
-      'unit/disable-upgrade.html'
+      'unit/render-status.html'
     ];
 
     // http://eddmann.com/posts/cartesian-product-in-javascript/
diff --git a/test/smoke/disable-upgrade.html b/test/smoke/disable-upgrade.html
deleted file mode 100644
index 0897b46d03..0000000000
--- a/test/smoke/disable-upgrade.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,98 +0,0 @@
- <!--
-@license
-Copyright (c) 2017 The Polymer Project Authors. All rights reserved.
-This code may only be used under the BSD style license found at http://polymer.github.io/LICENSE.txt
-The complete set of authors may be found at http://polymer.github.io/AUTHORS.txt
-The complete set of contributors may be found at http://polymer.github.io/CONTRIBUTORS.txt
-Code distributed by Google as part of the polymer project is also
-subject to an additional IP rights grant found at http://polymer.github.io/PATENTS.txt
--->
-<!DOCTYPE html>
-<html>
-<head>
-  <script src="../../../webcomponentsjs/webcomponents-lite.js"></script>
-  <link rel="import" href="../../polymer.html">
-</head>
-<body>
-
-<dom-module id="x-child">
-  <template>
-    <style>
-      :host {
-        display: block;
-        border: 2px solid lightgreen;
-        margin: 2px;
-        padding: 2px;
-      };
-    </style>
-    <div>I'm a child, yo!</div>
-  </template>
-  <script>
-    HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-      class XChild extends Polymer.Element {
-        static get is() { return 'x-child'}
-        static get properties() {
-          return {
-            prop: { value: 'hi'}
-          }
-        }
-      }
-      customElements.define(XChild.is, XChild);
-    });
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-
-<dom-module id="x-test">
-  <template>
-    <style>
-      :host {
-        display: block;
-        border: 2px solid orange;
-        padding: 2px;
-      };
-    </style>
-    <div>element says: {{prop}}</div>
-    <x-child id="child" disable-upgrade$="[[disabled]]"></x-child>
-  </template>
-  <script>
-    HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-      class XTest extends Polymer.Element {
-        static get is() { return 'x-test'}
-        static get properties() {
-          return {
-            prop: { value: 'hi'},
-            disabled: {value: true}
-          }
-        }
-
-        ready() {
-          super.ready();
-          setTimeout(() => {
-            // this.$.child.removeAttribute('disable-upgrade');
-            this.disabled = false;
-          }, 1000)
-        }
-      }
-      customElements.define(XTest.is, XTest);
-    });
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-
-<h2>Enabled</h2>
-<x-test></x-test>
-<x-test></x-test>
-<h2>Disabled</h2>
-<script>
-  function go() {
-    Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('[disable-upgrade]'))
-      .forEach((e) => e.removeAttribute('disable-upgrade'));
-  }
-</script>
-<button onclick="go()">Go</button>
-<x-test id="one" disable-upgrade></x-test>
-<x-test id="two" disable-upgrade></x-test>
-
-</body>
-</html>
diff --git a/test/unit/disable-upgrade.html b/test/unit/disable-upgrade.html
deleted file mode 100644
index c90387fe95..0000000000
--- a/test/unit/disable-upgrade.html
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,158 +0,0 @@
-<!doctype html>
-<!--
-@license
-Copyright (c) 2017 The Polymer Project Authors. All rights reserved.
-This code may only be used under the BSD style license found at http://polymer.github.io/LICENSE.txt
-The complete set of authors may be found at http://polymer.github.io/AUTHORS.txt
-The complete set of contributors may be found at http://polymer.github.io/CONTRIBUTORS.txt
-Code distributed by Google as part of the polymer project is also
-subject to an additional IP rights grant found at http://polymer.github.io/PATENTS.txt
--->
-<meta charset="utf-8">
-<script src="../../../webcomponentsjs/webcomponents-lite.js"></script>
-<script src="../../../web-component-tester/browser.js"></script>
-<link rel="import" href="../../polymer.html">
-
-<dom-module id="x-lazy">
-  <template>
-    <style>
-    :host {
-      display: block;
-    }
-    </style>
-    <div id="child">Live!</div>
-  </template>
-  <script>
-  HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-    Polymer({
-      is: 'x-lazy'
-    });
-  });
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-<test-fixture id="simple">
-  <template>
-    <x-lazy disable-upgrade></x-lazy>
-  </template>
-</test-fixture>
-
-<dom-module id="x-complicated-child">
-  <script>
-  HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-    Polymer({
-      is: 'x-complicated-child',
-      properties: {
-        a: {
-          observer: 'aChanged'
-        },
-        c: {
-          observer: 'cChanged'
-        },
-        aRan: {
-          value: false
-        },
-        cRan: {
-          value: false
-        }
-      },
-      aChanged: function() {
-        this.aRan = true;
-      },
-      cChanged: function() {
-        this.cRan = true;
-      }
-    });
-  })
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-<dom-module id="x-complicated-lazy">
-  <template>
-    <x-complicated-child id="child" a="{{a}}" disable-upgrade$="{{b}}" c="{{c}}"></x-complicated-child>
-  </template>
-  <script>
-  HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-    Polymer({
-      is: 'x-complicated-lazy',
-      properties: {
-        a: {value: true},
-        b: {value: true},
-        c: {value: true}
-      }
-    });
-  });
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-<test-fixture id="databind-lazy">
-  <template>
-    <x-complicated-lazy></x-complicated-lazy>
-  </template>
-</test-fixture>
-
-<dom-module id="x-complicated-not-lazy">
-  <template>
-    <!-- the <x-non-lazy> element here ensures there are other elements on -->
-    <!-- the host-stack to trigger "configuration", to ensure the disabled -->
-    <!-- element handles that code path correctly -->
-    <x-non-lazy></x-non-lazy>
-    <x-complicated-child id="child" a="{{a}}" disable-upgrade$="{{b}}" c="{{c}}"></x-complicated-child>
-  </template>
-  <script>
-  HTMLImports.whenReady(function() {
-    Polymer({
-      is: 'x-non-lazy'
-    });
-    Polymer({
-      is: 'x-complicated-not-lazy',
-      properties: {
-        a: {value: true},
-        b: {value: false},
-        c: {value: true}
-      }
-    });
-  });
-  </script>
-</dom-module>
-
-<test-fixture id="databind-not-lazy">
-  <template>
-    <x-complicated-not-lazy></x-complicated-not-lazy>
-  </template>
-</test-fixture>
-
-<script>
-suite('Element disableUpgrade', function() {
-  suite('disable-upgrade', function() {
-    var el;
-    setup(function() {
-      el = fixture('simple');
-    });
-    test('does not stamp when lazy', function() {
-      assert.equal(el.hasAttribute('disable-upgrade'), true);
-      assert.notOk(el.shadowRoot);
-      assert.notOk(el.$);
-    });
-    test('stamps when disableUpgrade is removed', function() {
-      el.removeAttribute('disable-upgrade');
-      assert.ok(el.root);
-      assert.ok(el.$.child);
-    });
-  });
-  suite('disableUpgrade and Databinding', function() {
-    test('binding to disable-upgrade with true', function() {
-      var el = fixture('databind-lazy');
-      assert.equal(el.$.child.hasAttribute('disable-upgrade'), true);
-      assert.equal(el.$.child.aRan, false);
-      assert.equal(el.$.child.cRan, false);
-    });
-    test('bindings to disable-upgrade with false', function () {
-      var el = fixture('databind-not-lazy');
-      assert.notOk(el.$.child.hasAttribute('disable-upgrade'));
-      assert.equal(el.$.child.aRan, true);
-      assert.equal(el.$.child.cRan, true);
-    })
-  })
-});
-</script>
\ No newline at end of file