Shouldn't we just close the issue and the unused PR? Otherwise we'll just have yet another vague bpo issue that doesn't have anything particularly actionable -- "there's some code that could be refactored" is not enough of a reason to have a bpo issue open, unless it's either a recurring maintenance chore (doesn't seem to be the case here) or something that a beginner could easily scoop up (definitely not the case here, there are subtleties lurking around every corner).