diff --git a/peer/log.go b/peer/log.go
index 6c7233b7..49cada81 100644
--- a/peer/log.go
+++ b/peer/log.go
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package peer
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/decred/dcrd/chaincfg/chainhash"
@@ -16,12 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/decred/slog"
 )
 
-const (
-	// maxRejectReasonLen is the maximum length of a sanitized reject reason
-	// that will be logged.
-	maxRejectReasonLen = 250
-)
-
 // log is a logger that is initialized with no output filters.  This
 // means the package will not perform any logging by default until the caller
 // requests it.
@@ -112,30 +105,6 @@ func locatorSummary(locator []*chainhash.Hash, stopHash *chainhash.Hash) string
 	return fmt.Sprintf("no locator, stop %s", stopHash)
 }
 
-// sanitizeString strips any characters which are even remotely dangerous, such
-// as html control characters, from the passed string.  It also limits it to
-// the passed maximum size, which can be 0 for unlimited.  When the string is
-// limited, it will also add "..." to the string to indicate it was truncated.
-func sanitizeString(str string, maxLength uint) string {
-	const safeChars = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY" +
-		"Z01234567890 .,;_/:?@"
-
-	// Strip any characters not in the safeChars string removed.
-	str = strings.Map(func(r rune) rune {
-		if strings.ContainsRune(safeChars, r) {
-			return r
-		}
-		return -1
-	}, str)
-
-	// Limit the string to the max allowed length.
-	if maxLength > 0 && uint(len(str)) > maxLength {
-		str = str[:maxLength]
-		str = str + "..."
-	}
-	return str
-}
-
 // messageSummary returns a human-readable string which summarizes a message.
 // Not all messages have or need a summary.  This is used for debug logging.
 func messageSummary(msg wire.Message) string {
@@ -196,20 +165,6 @@ func messageSummary(msg wire.Message) string {
 		}
 		return summary
 
-	case *wire.MsgReject:
-		// Ensure the variable length strings don't contain any
-		// characters which are even remotely dangerous such as HTML
-		// control characters, etc.  Also limit them to sane length for
-		// logging.
-		rejCommand := sanitizeString(msg.Cmd, wire.CommandSize)
-		rejReason := sanitizeString(msg.Reason, maxRejectReasonLen)
-		summary := fmt.Sprintf("cmd %v, code %v, reason %v", rejCommand,
-			msg.Code, rejReason)
-		if rejCommand == wire.CmdBlock || rejCommand == wire.CmdTx {
-			summary += fmt.Sprintf(", hash %v", msg.Hash)
-		}
-		return summary
-
 	case *wire.MsgGetInitState:
 		return fmt.Sprintf("types %v", msg.Types)
 
diff --git a/peer/peer.go b/peer/peer.go
index 5caa65be..8cf08c48 100644
--- a/peer/peer.go
+++ b/peer/peer.go
@@ -178,14 +178,18 @@ type MessageListeners struct {
 	OnFeeFilter func(p *Peer, msg *wire.MsgFeeFilter)
 
 	// OnVersion is invoked when a peer receives a version wire message.
-	// The caller may return a reject message in which case the message will
-	// be sent to the peer and the peer will be disconnected.
+	//
+	// Deprecated: The return value is no longer used beyond logging it and
+	// causing the peer to be disconnected when it is a non-nil value.
 	OnVersion func(p *Peer, msg *wire.MsgVersion) *wire.MsgReject
 
 	// OnVerAck is invoked when a peer receives a verack wire message.
 	OnVerAck func(p *Peer, msg *wire.MsgVerAck)
 
 	// OnReject is invoked when a peer receives a reject wire message.
+	//
+	// Deprecated: This will be removed in a future release.  Callers should
+	// avoid using it.
 	OnReject func(p *Peer, msg *wire.MsgReject)
 
 	// OnSendHeaders is invoked when a peer receives a sendheaders wire
@@ -1294,22 +1298,10 @@ out:
 		// needed.
 		rmsg, buf, err := p.readMessage()
 		if err != nil {
-			// Only log the error and send reject message if the
-			// local peer is not forcibly disconnecting and the
-			// remote peer has not disconnected.
+			// Only log the error if the local peer is not forcibly
+			// disconnecting and the remote peer has not disconnected.
 			if p.shouldHandleReadError(err) {
-				errMsg := fmt.Sprintf("Can't read message from %s: %v", p, err)
-				log.Errorf(errMsg)
-
-				// Push a reject message for the malformed message and wait for
-				// the message to be sent before disconnecting.
-				//
-				// NOTE: Ideally this would include the command in the header if
-				// at least that much of the message was valid, but that is not
-				// currently exposed by wire, so just used malformed for the
-				// command.
-				p.PushRejectMsg("malformed", wire.RejectMalformed, errMsg, nil,
-					true)
+				log.Errorf("Can't read message from %s: %v", p, err)
 			}
 
 			var nErr net.Error
@@ -1328,16 +1320,15 @@ out:
 		switch msg := rmsg.(type) {
 		case *wire.MsgVersion:
 			// Limit to one version message per peer.
-			p.PushRejectMsg(msg.Command(), wire.RejectDuplicate,
-				"duplicate version message", nil, true)
+			log.Debugf("Already received 'version' from peer %s -- "+
+				"disconnecting", p)
 			break out
 
 		case *wire.MsgVerAck:
-
 			// No read lock is necessary because verAckReceived is not written
 			// to in any other goroutine.
 			if p.verAckReceived {
-				log.Infof("Already received 'verack' from peer %v -- "+
+				log.Infof("Already received 'verack' from peer %s -- "+
 					"disconnecting", p)
 				break out
 			}
@@ -1878,27 +1869,18 @@ func (p *Peer) readRemoteVersionMsg() error {
 	p.flagsMtx.Unlock()
 
 	// Invoke the callback if specified.  In the case the callback returns a
-	// reject message, notify and disconnect the peer accordingly.
+	// reject message, disconnect the peer accordingly.
 	if p.cfg.Listeners.OnVersion != nil {
 		rejectMsg := p.cfg.Listeners.OnVersion(p, msg)
 		if rejectMsg != nil {
-			_ = p.writeMessage(rejectMsg)
 			return errors.New(rejectMsg.Reason)
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Notify and disconnect clients that have a protocol version that is
-	// too old.
+	// Disconnect clients that have a protocol version that is too old.
 	if msg.ProtocolVersion < int32(wire.InitialProcotolVersion) {
-		// Send a reject message indicating the protocol version is
-		// obsolete and wait for the message to be sent before
-		// disconnecting.
-		reason := fmt.Sprintf("protocol version must be %d or greater",
+		return fmt.Errorf("protocol version must be %d or greater",
 			wire.InitialProcotolVersion)
-		rejectMsg := wire.NewMsgReject(msg.Command(), wire.RejectObsolete,
-			reason)
-		_ = p.writeMessage(rejectMsg)
-		return errors.New(reason)
 	}
 
 	return nil