diff --git a/middleware/localNamingConventions.js b/middleware/localNamingConventions.js
index 20c77f6b..a8818e8b 100644
--- a/middleware/localNamingConventions.js
+++ b/middleware/localNamingConventions.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ function applyLocalNamingConventions(req, res, next) {
 
     // relevant for some countries
     var flip = place.parent.country_a.some(function(country) {
-      return _.includes(flipNumberAndStreetCountries, country);
+      return flipNumberAndStreetCountries.includes(country);
     });
     if (!flip){ return false; }
     if( !place.hasOwnProperty('address_parts') ){ return false; }
diff --git a/sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes.js b/sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes.js
index bd45c025..1f188816 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_deprecate_quattroshapes.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean, opts ) {
   if( raw.hasOwnProperty('sources') ){
 
     var sources = raw.sources.split(',');
-    if (_.includes(sources, 'quattroshapes') || _.includes(sources, 'qs')) {
+    if (sources.includes('quattroshapes') || sources.includes('qs')) {
 
       // emit a warning message so users can transition.
       messages.warnings.push('You are using Quattroshapes as a data source in this query. ' +
diff --git a/sanitizer/_details.js b/sanitizer/_details.js
index c67f7c47..9f3d27e1 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_details.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_details.js
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-
-var _ = require('lodash'),
-    check = require('check-types');
+var check = require('check-types');
 
 var DEFAULT_DETAILS_BOOL = true;
 
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
 // be lenient with 'truthy' values
 function isTruthy(val) {
   if( check.string( val ) ){
-    return _.includes( ['true', '1'], val );
+    return ['true', '1'].includes( val );
   }
 
   return val === 1 || val === true;
diff --git a/sanitizer/_flag_bool.js b/sanitizer/_flag_bool.js
index 4ed5c339..aac57cdf 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_flag_bool.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_flag_bool.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean, opts ){
  * @returns {boolean}
  */
 function isTruthy(val) {
-  return _.includes( ['true', '1', 1, true], val );
+  return ['true', '1', 1, true].includes( val );
 }
 
 module.exports = setup;
diff --git a/sanitizer/_geo_reverse.js b/sanitizer/_geo_reverse.js
index 3b031089..1ce49909 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_geo_reverse.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_geo_reverse.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ module.exports = function sanitize( raw, clean ){
     // if no radius was passed, set the default
     if ( _.isUndefined( raw['boundary.circle.radius'] ) ) {
       // the default is small unless layers other than venue or address were explicitly specified
-      if (clean.layers && clean.layers.length > 0 && !_.includes(clean.layers, 'venue') && !_.includes(clean.layers, 'address')) {
+      if (clean.layers && clean.layers.length > 0 && !clean.layers.includes('venue') && !clean.layers.includes('address')) {
         raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse'];
       } else {
         raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius'];
diff --git a/sanitizer/_groups.js b/sanitizer/_groups.js
index fc1d3f30..0da39666 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_groups.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_groups.js
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-var _ = require('lodash');
-
 /*
  * Specify an object and array of keys to check.
  * An error will be thrown if at least one, but not all of them are specified
@@ -10,7 +8,10 @@ var _ = require('lodash');
  * returns true if all are present, false if none are present, throws an exception otherwise
  */
 function optional_group(object, keys) {
-  var contained_in_object = _.includes.bind(null, Object.keys(object));
+  var object_properties = Object.keys(object);
+  var contained_in_object = function(key_to_check) {
+    return object_properties.includes(key_to_check);
+  };
 
   if (keys.every(contained_in_object)) {
     return true;
@@ -26,7 +27,10 @@ function optional_group(object, keys) {
  * An error will be thrown if any of the keys are missing from the object
  */
 function required_group(object, keys) {
-  var contained_in_object = _.includes.bind(null, Object.keys(object));
+  var object_properties = Object.keys(object);
+  var contained_in_object = function(key_to_check) {
+    return object_properties.includes(key_to_check);
+  };
 
   if (keys.every(contained_in_object)) {
     return true;
diff --git a/sanitizer/_ids.js b/sanitizer/_ids.js
index ba456766..e598d0c9 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_ids.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_ids.js
@@ -30,17 +30,17 @@ function sanitizeId(rawId, messages) {
   var id = parts.slice(2).join(ID_DELIM);
 
   // check if any parts of the gid are empty
-  if (_.includes([source, layer, id], '')) {
+  if ([source, layer, id].includes('')) {
     messages.errors.push( formatError(rawId) );
     return;
   }
   var valid_values = Object.keys(type_mapping.source_mapping);
-  if (!_.includes(valid_values, source)) {
+  if (!valid_values.includes(source)) {
     messages.errors.push( targetError(source, valid_values) );
     return;
   }
 
-  if (!_.includes(type_mapping.layers, layer)) {
+  if (!type_mapping.layers.includes(layer)) {
     messages.errors.push( targetError(layer, type_mapping.layers) );
     return;
   }
diff --git a/sanitizer/_sources_and_layers.js b/sanitizer/_sources_and_layers.js
index fa0325b2..6ca52193 100644
--- a/sanitizer/_sources_and_layers.js
+++ b/sanitizer/_sources_and_layers.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ function sanitize( raw, clean ){
     clean.sources.forEach(function(source) {
       var layers_for_source = type_mapping.layers_by_source[source];
       clean.layers.forEach(function(layer) {
-        if (_.includes(layers_for_source, layer)) {
+        if (layers_for_source.includes(layer)) {
           at_least_one_valid_combination = true;
         } else {
           var message = 'You have specified both the `sources` and `layers` ' +