Optional.get() is an "attractive nuisance" and is too tempting for programmers, leading to frequent errors. People don't expect a getter to throw an exception. A replacement API for Optional.get() with equivalent semantics should be added. The specification for Optional.get() should direct readers to the new API. However, Optional.get() shouldn't be deprecated just yet; deprecation is covered by the follow-on issue JDK-8160606 The current proposal for replacement is a no-arg Optional.orElseThrow(). This fits well within the family of or-else methods, and it's closely related to orElseThrow(exSupplier), as if providing a NoSuchElementException supplier as a default.