diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/__tests__/writeToStore.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/__tests__/writeToStore.ts
index 8731a614206..bc4aee1ed56 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/__tests__/writeToStore.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/__tests__/writeToStore.ts
@@ -1180,7 +1180,6 @@ describe('writing to the store', () => {
             selectionSet: def.selectionSet,
             result: cloneDeep(result),
             context: {
-              storeFactory: defaultNormalizedCacheFactory,
               store: defaultNormalizedCacheFactory(),
               variables,
               dataIdFromObject: () => '5',
diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/inMemoryCache.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/inMemoryCache.ts
index bb05861af0c..062b624b771 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/inMemoryCache.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/inMemoryCache.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ const defaultConfig: ApolloReducerConfig = {
   fragmentMatcher: new HeuristicFragmentMatcher(),
   dataIdFromObject: defaultDataIdFromObject,
   addTypename: true,
-  storeFactory: defaultNormalizedCacheFactory,
 };
 
 export function defaultDataIdFromObject(result: any): string | null {
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ export class InMemoryCache extends ApolloCache<NormalizedCacheObject> {
     }
 
     this.addTypename = this.config.addTypename;
-    this.data = this.config.storeFactory();
+    this.data = defaultNormalizedCacheFactory();
   }
 
   public restore(data: NormalizedCacheObject): this {
@@ -92,7 +91,7 @@ export class InMemoryCache extends ApolloCache<NormalizedCacheObject> {
     }
 
     return readQueryFromStore({
-      store: this.config.storeFactory(this.extract(query.optimistic)),
+      store: defaultNormalizedCacheFactory(this.extract(query.optimistic)),
       query: this.transformDocument(query.query),
       variables: query.variables,
       rootId: query.rootId,
@@ -118,7 +117,7 @@ export class InMemoryCache extends ApolloCache<NormalizedCacheObject> {
 
   public diff<T>(query: Cache.DiffOptions): Cache.DiffResult<T> {
     return diffQueryAgainstStore({
-      store: this.config.storeFactory(this.extract(query.optimistic)),
+      store: defaultNormalizedCacheFactory(this.extract(query.optimistic)),
       query: this.transformDocument(query.query),
       variables: query.variables,
       returnPartialData: query.returnPartialData,
diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/types.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/types.ts
index 7d5838e1cc6..df45006146b 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/types.ts
@@ -39,10 +39,6 @@ export interface StoreObject {
   [storeFieldKey: string]: StoreValue;
 }
 
-export type NormalizedCacheFactory = (
-  seed?: NormalizedCacheObject,
-) => NormalizedCache;
-
 export type OptimisticStoreItem = {
   id: string;
   data: NormalizedCacheObject;
@@ -68,7 +64,6 @@ export type ApolloReducerConfig = {
   fragmentMatcher?: FragmentMatcherInterface;
   addTypename?: boolean;
   cacheRedirects?: CacheResolverMap;
-  storeFactory?: NormalizedCacheFactory;
 };
 
 export type ReadStoreContext = {
diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/writeToStore.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/writeToStore.ts
index f12f107e0fd..9c3f182cf2c 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/writeToStore.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-inmemory/src/writeToStore.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ import { defaultNormalizedCacheFactory, ObjectCache } from './objectCache';
 import {
   IdGetter,
   NormalizedCache,
-  NormalizedCacheFactory,
   ReadStoreContext,
   StoreObject,
 } from './types';
@@ -72,8 +71,7 @@ export function enhanceErrorWithDocument(error: Error, document: DocumentNode) {
 export function writeQueryToStore({
   query,
   result,
-  storeFactory = defaultNormalizedCacheFactory,
-  store = storeFactory(),
+  store = defaultNormalizedCacheFactory(),
   variables,
   dataIdFromObject,
   fragmentMatcherFunction,
@@ -81,7 +79,6 @@ export function writeQueryToStore({
   query: DocumentNode;
   result: Object;
   store?: NormalizedCache;
-  storeFactory?: NormalizedCacheFactory;
   variables?: Object;
   dataIdFromObject?: IdGetter;
   fragmentMatcherFunction?: FragmentMatcher;
@@ -95,7 +92,6 @@ export function writeQueryToStore({
       selectionSet: queryDefinition.selectionSet,
       context: {
         store,
-        storeFactory,
         processedData: {},
         variables: assign({}, getDefaultValues(queryDefinition), variables),
         dataIdFromObject,
@@ -110,7 +106,6 @@ export function writeQueryToStore({
 
 export type WriteContext = {
   readonly store: NormalizedCache;
-  readonly storeFactory: NormalizedCacheFactory;
   readonly processedData?: { [x: string]: FieldNode[] };
   readonly variables?: any;
   readonly dataIdFromObject?: IdGetter;
@@ -122,8 +117,7 @@ export function writeResultToStore({
   dataId,
   result,
   document,
-  storeFactory = defaultNormalizedCacheFactory,
-  store = storeFactory(),
+  store = defaultNormalizedCacheFactory(),
   variables,
   dataIdFromObject,
   fragmentMatcherFunction,
@@ -132,7 +126,6 @@ export function writeResultToStore({
   result: any;
   document: DocumentNode;
   store?: NormalizedCache;
-  storeFactory?: NormalizedCacheFactory;
   variables?: Object;
   dataIdFromObject?: IdGetter;
   fragmentMatcherFunction?: FragmentMatcher;
@@ -147,7 +140,6 @@ export function writeResultToStore({
       selectionSet: operationDefinition.selectionSet,
       context: {
         store,
-        storeFactory,
         processedData: {},
         variables: assign({}, getDefaultValues(operationDefinition), variables),
         dataIdFromObject,