diff --git a/src/access-controllers/index.js b/src/access-controllers/index.js
index 7a47273..ec850de 100644
--- a/src/access-controllers/index.js
+++ b/src/access-controllers/index.js
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ const removeAccessController = type => {
 }
 
 export {
-  accessControllers,
   getAccessController,
   addAccessController,
   removeAccessController
diff --git a/src/identities/identities.js b/src/identities/identities.js
index ea96511..5894567 100644
--- a/src/identities/identities.js
+++ b/src/identities/identities.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * details and providers.
  */
 import Identity, { isIdentity, isEqual, decodeIdentity } from './identity.js'
-import { getProviderFor } from './providers/index.js'
+import { getIdentityProvider } from './providers/index.js'
 // import DIDIdentityProvider from './identity-providers/did.js'
 // import EthIdentityProvider from './identity-providers/ethereum.js'
 import KeyStore, { signMessage, verifyMessage } from '../key-store.js'
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ const Identities = async ({ keystore, path, storage, ipfs } = {}) => {
     options.keystore = keystore
 
     const type = options.type || DefaultProviderType
-    const Provider = getProviderFor(type).default
+    const Provider = getIdentityProvider(type).default
     const identityProvider = Provider(options)
     const id = await identityProvider.getId(options)
     const privateKey = await keystore.getKey(id) || await keystore.createKey(id)
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ const Identities = async ({ keystore, path, storage, ipfs } = {}) => {
       return isEqual(identity, verifiedIdentity)
     }
 
-    const Provider = getProviderFor(identity.type)
+    const Provider = getIdentityProvider(identity.type)
 
     const identityVerified = await Provider.verifyIdentity(identity)
     if (identityVerified) {
diff --git a/src/identities/index.js b/src/identities/index.js
index 4ed6ab8..8f0e7e2 100644
--- a/src/identities/index.js
+++ b/src/identities/index.js
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ export {
 } from './identity.js'
 
 export {
-  PublicKeyIdentityProvider,
   addIdentityProvider,
-  identityProviders
+  getIdentityProvider
 } from './providers/index.js'
diff --git a/src/identities/providers/index.js b/src/identities/providers/index.js
index cb140d7..2387052 100644
--- a/src/identities/providers/index.js
+++ b/src/identities/providers/index.js
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ const isProviderSupported = (type) => {
   * not supported.
   * @static
   */
-const getProviderFor = (type) => {
+const getIdentityProvider = (type) => {
   if (!isProviderSupported(type)) {
     throw new Error(`IdentityProvider type '${type}' is not supported`)
   }
@@ -108,6 +108,4 @@ const addIdentityProvider = (IdentityProvider) => {
   identityProviders[IdentityProvider.type] = IdentityProvider
 }
 
-// export { default as DIDIdentityProvider } from './did.js'
-// export { default as EthIdentityProvider } from './ethereum.js'
-export { identityProviders, addIdentityProvider, getProviderFor, PublicKeyIdentityProvider }
+export { addIdentityProvider, getIdentityProvider, PublicKeyIdentityProvider }
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 62de267..8be5aaa 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -22,15 +22,14 @@ export { default as KeyStore } from './key-store.js'
 export {
   addAccessController,
   removeAccessController,
-  getAccessController,
-  accessControllers
+  getAccessController
 } from './access-controllers/index.js'
 
 export {
   Identities,
   isIdentity,
-  identityProviders,
-  addIdentityProvider
+  addIdentityProvider,
+  getIdentityProvider
 } from './identities/index.js'
 
 export {
diff --git a/test/identities/identities.test.js b/test/identities/identities.test.js
index 2b58584..d1958ae 100644
--- a/test/identities/identities.test.js
+++ b/test/identities/identities.test.js
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ import rmrf from 'rimraf'
 import { copy } from 'fs-extra'
 import { toString as uint8ArrayToString } from 'uint8arrays/to-string'
 import KeyStore, { signMessage, verifyMessage } from '../../src/key-store.js'
-import { Identities, identityProviders, addIdentityProvider, Identity, PublicKeyIdentityProvider } from '../../src/identities/index.js'
+import { Identities, addIdentityProvider, getIdentityProvider, Identity } from '../../src/identities/index.js'
 import testKeysPath from '../fixtures/test-keys-path.js'
 import { CustomIdentityProvider, FakeIdentityProvider } from '../fixtures/providers.js'
 
-const type = PublicKeyIdentityProvider.type
+const type = 'publickey'
 const keysPath = './testkeys'
 
 describe('Identities', function () {
@@ -15,15 +15,6 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
     await copy(testKeysPath, keysPath)
   })
 
-  afterEach(async () => {
-    // reset the identityProviders.
-    for (const [key] of Object.entries(identityProviders)) {
-      if (key !== 'publickey') {
-        delete identityProviders[key]
-      }
-    }
-  })
-
   after(async () => {
     await rmrf(keysPath)
   })
@@ -335,14 +326,10 @@ describe('Identities', function () {
   })
 
   describe('manage identity providers', () => {
-    it('has default identity providers', () => {
-      assert.deepStrictEqual(identityProviders, { publickey: PublicKeyIdentityProvider })
-    })
-
     it('can add an identity provider', () => {
       addIdentityProvider(CustomIdentityProvider)
 
-      assert.deepStrictEqual(identityProviders, { publickey: PublicKeyIdentityProvider, custom: CustomIdentityProvider })
+      assert.deepStrictEqual(getIdentityProvider('custom'), CustomIdentityProvider)
     })
   })
 })
diff --git a/test/orbitdb-access-controllers.test.js b/test/orbitdb-access-controllers.test.js
index 2b81131..55251a9 100644
--- a/test/orbitdb-access-controllers.test.js
+++ b/test/orbitdb-access-controllers.test.js
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import { strictEqual, deepStrictEqual, notStrictEqual } from 'assert'
 import rmrf from 'rimraf'
 import * as IPFS from 'ipfs-core'
 import OrbitDB from '../src/orbitdb.js'
-import { accessControllers, addAccessController, removeAccessController } from '../src/access-controllers/index.js'
+import { getAccessController, addAccessController, removeAccessController } from '../src/access-controllers/index.js'
+import IPFSAccessController from '../src/access-controllers/ipfs.js'
+import OrbitDBAccessController from '../src/access-controllers/orbitdb.js'
 import config from './config.js'
 import pathJoin from '../src/utils/path-join.js'
 
@@ -47,12 +49,8 @@ describe('Add a custom access controller', function () {
 
   describe('Default supported access controllers', function () {
     it('returns default supported access controllers', async () => {
-      const expected = [
-        'ipfs',
-        'orbitdb'
-      ]
-
-      deepStrictEqual(Object.keys(accessControllers), expected)
+      deepStrictEqual(getAccessController('ipfs'), IPFSAccessController)
+      deepStrictEqual(getAccessController('orbitdb'), OrbitDBAccessController)
     })
 
     it('throws and error if custom access controller hasn\'t been added', async () => {
@@ -93,24 +91,20 @@ describe('Add a custom access controller', function () {
     })
 
     it('returns custom access controller after adding it', async () => {
-      const expected = [
-        'ipfs',
-        'orbitdb',
-        type
-      ]
-
-      deepStrictEqual(Object.keys(accessControllers), expected)
+      deepStrictEqual(getAccessController(type), CustomAccessController)
     })
 
     it('can be removed from supported access controllers', async () => {
-      const expected = [
-        'ipfs',
-        'orbitdb'
-      ]
-
+      let err
       removeAccessController(type)
 
-      deepStrictEqual(Object.keys(accessControllers), expected)
+      try {
+        getAccessController(type)
+      } catch (e) {
+        err = e.toString()
+      }
+
+      deepStrictEqual(err, 'Error: AccessController type \'custom!\' is not supported')
     })
   })
 })