diff --git a/cbor/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/cbor/CBORGenerator.java b/cbor/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/cbor/CBORGenerator.java
index 59977dbf9..2ceb648a0 100644
--- a/cbor/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/cbor/CBORGenerator.java
+++ b/cbor/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/cbor/CBORGenerator.java
@@ -450,13 +450,13 @@ public JsonGenerator overrideFormatFeatures(int values, int mask) {
     /**********************************************************
      */
 
-    @Override // since 2.13
-    public Object currentValue() {
-        return _streamWriteContext.getCurrentValue();
+    @Override
+    public JsonStreamContext getOutputContext() {
+        return _streamWriteContext;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public Object getCurrentValue() {
+    @Override // since 2.13
+    public Object currentValue() {
         return _streamWriteContext.getCurrentValue();
     }
 
@@ -465,15 +465,13 @@ public void assignCurrentValue(Object v) {
         _streamWriteContext.setCurrentValue(v);
     }
 
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
     @Override
-    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) {
-        _streamWriteContext.setCurrentValue(v);
-    }
+    public Object getCurrentValue() { return currentValue(); }
 
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
     @Override
-    public JsonStreamContext getOutputContext() {
-        return _streamWriteContext;
-    }
+    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) { assignCurrentValue(v); }
 
     /*
     /**********************************************************
diff --git a/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/IonGeneratorTest.java b/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/IonGeneratorTest.java
index f4a7dd83a..f2c18269d 100644
--- a/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/IonGeneratorTest.java
+++ b/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/IonGeneratorTest.java
@@ -14,10 +14,8 @@
 
 package com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.ion;
 
-import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.Before;
-import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerationException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 
@@ -33,6 +31,8 @@
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 public class IonGeneratorTest {
     private static final Map<String, String> testObject;
@@ -59,9 +59,6 @@ public class IonGeneratorTest {
     private IonValue testObjectIon;
     private JsonNode testObjectTree;
 
-    @Rule
-    public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
-
     @Before
     public void setUp() throws Exception {
         final IonFactory factory = new IonFactory();
@@ -127,16 +124,24 @@ public void testTreeWriteVerifiesOnce() throws Exception {
     @Test
     public void testWriteFieldNameFailsInSexp() throws Exception {
         joiGenerator.writeStartSexp();
-        thrown.expect(JsonGenerationException.class);
-        thrown.expectMessage("Can not write a field name, expecting a value");
-        joiGenerator.writeFieldName("foo");
+        try {
+            joiGenerator.writeFieldName("foo");
+            fail("Should not pass");
+        } catch (JsonGenerationException e) {
+            assertEquals("Can not write a field name, expecting a value",
+                    e.getMessage());
+        }
     }
 
     @Test
     public void testWriteStartSexpFailsWithoutWriteFieldName() throws Exception {
         joiGenerator.writeStartObject();
-        thrown.expect(JsonGenerationException.class);
-        thrown.expectMessage("Can not start a sexp, expecting field name");
-        joiGenerator.writeStartSexp();
+        try {
+            joiGenerator.writeStartSexp();
+            fail("Should not pass");
+        } catch (JsonGenerationException e) {
+            assertEquals("Can not start a sexp, expecting field name",
+                    e.getMessage());
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufGenerator.java b/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufGenerator.java
index 6882b4332..d738ff404 100644
--- a/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufGenerator.java
+++ b/protobuf/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/protobuf/ProtobufGenerator.java
@@ -158,31 +158,6 @@ public void setSchema(ProtobufSchema schema)
         _pbContext = _rootContext = ProtobufWriteContext.createRootContext(schema.getRootType());
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public StreamWriteConstraints streamWriteConstraints() {
-        return _streamWriteConstraints;
-    }
-
-    @Override // since 2.13
-    public Object currentValue() {
-        return _pbContext.getCurrentValue();
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public Object getCurrentValue() {
-        return _pbContext.getCurrentValue();
-    }
-
-    @Override // since 2.13
-    public void assignCurrentValue(Object v) {
-        _pbContext.setCurrentValue(v);
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) {
-        _pbContext.setCurrentValue(v);
-    }
-
     /*
     /**********************************************************
     /* Versioned
@@ -221,6 +196,11 @@ public boolean canUseSchema(FormatSchema schema) {
     /**********************************************************
      */
 
+    @Override
+    public StreamWriteConstraints streamWriteConstraints() {
+        return _streamWriteConstraints;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Not sure whether to throw an exception or just do no-op; for now,
      * latter.
@@ -265,6 +245,30 @@ public void setSchema(FormatSchema schema)
         setSchema((ProtobufSchema) schema);
     }
 
+    /*
+    /**********************************************************
+    /* Overridden methods, output context (and related)
+    /**********************************************************
+     */
+
+    @Override // since 2.13
+    public Object currentValue() {
+        return _pbContext.getCurrentValue();
+    }
+
+    @Override // since 2.13
+    public void assignCurrentValue(Object v) {
+        _pbContext.setCurrentValue(v);
+    }
+
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
+    @Override
+    public Object getCurrentValue() { return currentValue(); }
+
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
+    @Override
+    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) { assignCurrentValue(v); }
+
     /*
     /**********************************************************************
     /* Overridden methods; writing field names
diff --git a/smile/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/smile/SmileGenerator.java b/smile/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/smile/SmileGenerator.java
index a3398c51b..f935f3a81 100644
--- a/smile/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/smile/SmileGenerator.java
+++ b/smile/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/smile/SmileGenerator.java
@@ -470,13 +470,13 @@ public JsonGenerator overrideFormatFeatures(int values, int mask) {
     /**********************************************************
      */
 
-    @Override // since 2.13
-    public Object currentValue() {
-        return _streamWriteContext.getCurrentValue();
+    @Override
+    public JsonStreamContext getOutputContext() {
+        return _streamWriteContext;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public Object getCurrentValue() {
+    @Override // since 2.13
+    public Object currentValue() {
         return _streamWriteContext.getCurrentValue();
     }
 
@@ -485,15 +485,13 @@ public void assignCurrentValue(Object v) {
         _streamWriteContext.setCurrentValue(v);
     }
 
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
     @Override
-    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) {
-        _streamWriteContext.setCurrentValue(v);
-    }
+    public Object getCurrentValue() { return currentValue(); }
 
+    @Deprecated // since 2.17
     @Override
-    public JsonStreamContext getOutputContext() {
-        return _streamWriteContext;
-    }
+    public void setCurrentValue(Object v) { assignCurrentValue(v); }
 
     /*
     /**********************************************************