diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 049ccaa..259f8f8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,12 +5,6 @@ All notable changes to WuttJamaican will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
-## v0.8.2 (2024-07-18)
-
-### Fix
-
-- add `check_user_password()` method for auth handler
-
 ## v0.8.1 (2024-07-17)
 
 ### Fix
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4d9be0b..e10c2db 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "WuttJamaican"
-version = "0.8.2"
+version = "0.8.1"
 description = "Base package for Wutta Framework"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{name = "Lance Edgar", email = "lance@edbob.org"}]
diff --git a/src/wuttjamaican/auth.py b/src/wuttjamaican/auth.py
index d9300ed..c005f94 100644
--- a/src/wuttjamaican/auth.py
+++ b/src/wuttjamaican/auth.py
@@ -84,30 +84,19 @@ class AuthHandler(GenericHandler):
         :returns: :class:`~wuttjamaican.db.model.auth.User` instance,
            or ``None``.
         """
-        user = self.get_user(username, session=session)
+        model = self.app.model
+
+        if isinstance(username, model.User):
+            user = username
+        else:
+            user = session.query(model.User)\
+                          .filter_by(username=username)\
+                          .first()
+
         if user and user.active and user.password:
-            if self.check_user_password(user, password):
+            if password_context.verify(password, user.password):
                 return user
 
-    def check_user_password(self, user, password, **kwargs):
-        """
-        Check a user's password.
-
-        This will hash the given password and compare it to the hashed
-        password we have on file for the given user account.
-
-        This is normally part of the login process, so the
-        ``password`` param refers to the password entered by a user;
-        this method will determine if it was correct.
-
-        :param user: :class:`~wuttjamaican.db.model.auth.User` instance.
-
-        :param password: User-entered password in plain text.
-
-        :returns: ``True`` if password matches; else ``False``.
-        """
-        return password_context.verify(password, user.password)
-
     def get_role(self, session, key, **kwargs):
         """
         Locate and return a :class:`~wuttjamaican.db.model.auth.Role`
diff --git a/tests/test_auth.py b/tests/test_auth.py
index e8d5e15..b5b5f76 100644
--- a/tests/test_auth.py
+++ b/tests/test_auth.py
@@ -60,17 +60,6 @@ else:
             user = self.handler.authenticate_user(self.session, 'barney', 'goodpass')
             self.assertIsNone(user)
 
-        def test_check_user_password(self):
-            model = self.app.model
-            barney = model.User(username='barney')
-            self.handler.set_user_password(barney, 'goodpass')
-            self.session.add(barney)
-            self.session.commit()
-
-            # basics
-            self.assertTrue(self.handler.check_user_password(barney, 'goodpass'))
-            self.assertFalse(self.handler.check_user_password(barney, 'BADPASS'))
-
         def test_get_role(self):
             model = self.app.model
             myrole = model.Role(name="My Role")