diff --git a/src/pipeline.jl b/src/pipeline.jl
index e0130f3f..c3468199 100644
--- a/src/pipeline.jl
+++ b/src/pipeline.jl
@@ -55,6 +55,18 @@ end
 
 
 ## Preprocessing attributes
+function RecipesPipeline.preprocess_axis_args!(plt::Plot, plotattributes, letter)
+    # Fix letter for seriestypes that are x only but data gets passed as y
+    if get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :path) in
+       (:vline, :vspan, :histogram, :barhist, :stephist, :scatterhist)
+        if get(plotattributes, :orientation, :vertical) == :vertical
+            letter = :x
+        end
+    end
+
+    plotattributes[:letter] = letter
+    RecipesPipeline.preprocess_axis_args!(plt, plotattributes)
+end
 
 RecipesPipeline.preprocess_attributes!(plt::Plot, plotattributes) =
     RecipesPipeline.preprocess_attributes!(plotattributes) # in src/args.jl
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 9953acc7..e52ac499 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -164,15 +164,6 @@ end
 # a list of series KW dicts.
 # note: at entry, we only have those preprocessed args which were passed in... no default values yet
 function _plot!(plt::Plot, plotattributes, args)
-    # swap x and y for seriestypes that are x only
-    if get(plotattributes, :seriestype, :path) in
-       (:vline, :vspan, :histogram, :barhist, :stephist, :scatterhist)
-        if get(plotattributes, :orientation, :vertical) == :vertical
-            @assert length(args) == 1
-            args = (args[1], [])
-        end
-    end
-
     RecipesPipeline.recipe_pipeline!(plt, plotattributes, args)
     current(plt)
     _do_plot_show(plt, plt[:show])
diff --git a/src/recipes.jl b/src/recipes.jl
index 9e2adfec..dd8d2dc5 100644
--- a/src/recipes.jl
+++ b/src/recipes.jl
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ end
 
 @recipe function f(::Type{Val{:barhist}}, x, y, z)
     h = _make_hist(
-        tuple(plotattributes[:orientation] == :horizontal ? y : x),
+        tuple(y),
         plotattributes[:bins],
         normed = plotattributes[:normalize],
         weights = plotattributes[:weights],
@@ -778,7 +778,7 @@ end
 
 @recipe function f(::Type{Val{:stephist}}, x, y, z)
     h = _make_hist(
-        tuple(plotattributes[:orientation] == :horizontal ? y : x),
+        tuple(y),
         plotattributes[:bins],
         normed = plotattributes[:normalize],
         weights = plotattributes[:weights],
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ end
 
 @recipe function f(::Type{Val{:scatterhist}}, x, y, z)
     h = _make_hist(
-        tuple(plotattributes[:orientation] == :horizontal ? y : x),
+        tuple(y),
         plotattributes[:bins],
         normed = plotattributes[:normalize],
         weights = plotattributes[:weights],
diff --git a/test/test_axis_letter.jl b/test/test_axis_letter.jl
index 69bf35e4..691034b8 100644
--- a/test/test_axis_letter.jl
+++ b/test/test_axis_letter.jl
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using Plots, Test
 
 @testset "axis letter" begin
     using Plots, RecipesBase
@@ -21,4 +22,4 @@
     @testset "$f" for f in [vline, vspan]
         @test f(data).subplots[1].attr[:title] == "x"
     end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl b/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
index fdf8ada8..9345018a 100644
--- a/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
+++ b/test/test_pgfplotsx.jl
@@ -302,11 +302,6 @@ end
             lines = readlines(io)
             @test count(s -> occursin("node", s), lines) == 9
          end
-         # test .tikz extension
-         file_path =joinpath(path,"annotations.tikz")
-         @test_nowarn savefig(annotation_plot, file_path)
-         @test_nowarn open(file_path) do io
-         end
       end
    end # testset
    @testset "Ribbon" begin
@@ -326,15 +321,6 @@ end
       @test ribbon_plot.o !== nothing
       @test ribbon_plot.o.the_plot !== nothing
    end # testset
-   @testset "Markers and Paths" begin
-      pl = plot(5 .- ones(9), markershape = [:utriangle, :rect],
-                 markersize = 8,
-                 color = [:red, :black])
-      Plots._update_plot_object(pl)
-      axis = Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)[1]
-      plots = filter(x -> x isa PGFPlotsX.Plot, axis.contents)
-      @test length(plots) == 9
-   end # testset
 end # testset
 
 @testset "Extra kwargs" begin
@@ -355,33 +341,4 @@ end # testset
    axes = Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)
    @test !haskey(axes[1].options.dict, "axis line shift")
    @test haskey(axes[2].options.dict, "axis line shift")
-   pl = plot(x->x, -1:1; add = raw"\node at (0,0.5) {\huge hi};", extra_kwargs = :subplot)
-   @test pl[1][:extra_kwargs] == Dict(:add => raw"\node at (0,0.5) {\huge hi};")
-   Plots._update_plot_object(pl)
-   axes = Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)
-   @test filter(x->x isa String, axes[1].contents)[1] == raw"\node at (0,0.5) {\huge hi};"
-   plot!(pl)
-   @test pl[1][:extra_kwargs] == Dict(:add => raw"\node at (0,0.5) {\huge hi};")
-   Plots._update_plot_object(pl)
-   axes = Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)
-   @test filter(x->x isa String, axes[1].contents)[1] == raw"\node at (0,0.5) {\huge hi};"
-end # testset
-
-@testset "Titlefonts" begin
-   pl = plot(1:5, title = "Test me", titlefont = (2, :left))
-   @test pl[1][:title] == "Test me"
-   @test pl[1][:titlefontsize] == 2
-   @test pl[1][:titlefonthalign] == :left
-   Plots._update_plot_object(pl)
-   ax_opt = Plots.pgfx_axes(pl.o)[1].options
-   @test ax_opt["title"] == "Test me"
-   @test(haskey(ax_opt.dict, "title style")) isa Test.Pass
-   pl = plot(1:5, plot_title = "Test me", plot_titlefont = (2, :left))
-   @test pl[:plot_title] == "Test me"
-   @test pl[:plot_titlefontsize] == 2
-   @test pl[:plot_titlefonthalign] == :left
-   pl = heatmap(rand(3,3), colorbar_title = "Test me", colorbar_titlefont = (12, :right))
-   @test pl[1][:colorbar_title] == "Test me"
-   @test pl[1][:colorbar_titlefontsize] == 12
-   @test pl[1][:colorbar_titlefonthalign] == :right
 end # testset