diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/DocRouterFactory.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/DocRouterFactory.java
index bf590b68e..6937a0b07 100644
--- a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/DocRouterFactory.java
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/DocRouterFactory.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 
 public class DocRouterFactory
 {
-	private final static Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DocRouterFactory.class);
+    protected final static Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DocRouterFactory.class);
     
     public static final String SHARD_KEY_KEY = "shard.key";
     public static final String SHARD_RANGE_KEY = "shard.range";
@@ -41,45 +41,41 @@ public class DocRouterFactory
 
         switch(method) {
             case DB_ID:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via DB_ID");
+                log.info("Sharding via DB_ID");
                 return new DBIDRouter();
             case DB_ID_RANGE:
                 //
                 if(properties.containsKey(SHARD_RANGE_KEY))
                 {
-                    LOGGER.info("Sharding via DB_ID_RANGE");
+                    log.info("Sharding via DB_ID_RANGE");
                     String[] pair =properties.getProperty(SHARD_RANGE_KEY).split("-");
                     long start = Long.parseLong(pair[0]);
                     long end = Long.parseLong(pair[1]);
                     return new DBIDRangeRouter(start, end);
                 }
             case ACL_ID:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via ACL_ID");
+                log.info("Sharding via ACL_ID");
                 return new ACLIDMurmurRouter();
             case MOD_ACL_ID:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via MOD_ACL_ID");
+                log.info("Sharding via MOD_ACL_ID");
                 return new ACLIDModRouter();
             case DATE:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via DATE");
+                log.info("Sharding via DATE");
                 return new DateMonthRouter(properties.getProperty(SHARD_DATE_GROUPING_KEY, "1"));
             case PROPERTY:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via PROPERTY");
+                log.info("Sharding via PROPERTY");
                 return new PropertyRouter(properties.getProperty(SHARD_REGEX_KEY, ""));
             case LAST_REGISTERED_INDEXING_SHARD:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via LAST_REGISTERED_INDEXING_SHARD");
-                return new ExplicitShardIdWithStaticPropertyRouter();
+                log.info("Sharding via LAST_REGISTERED_INDEXING_SHARD");
+                return new LastRegisteredShardRouter();
             case EXPLICIT_ID_FALLBACK_LRIS:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via EXPLICIT_ID_FALLBACK_LRIS");
-                return new DocRouterWithFallback(
-                        new ExplicitShardIdWithDynamicPropertyRouter(false),
-                        new ExplicitShardIdWithStaticPropertyRouter());
+                log.info("Sharding via EXPLICIT_ID_FALLBACK_LRIS");
+                return new ExplicitRouter(new LastRegisteredShardRouter());
             case EXPLICIT_ID:
-                LOGGER.info("Sharding via EXPLICIT_ID");
-                return new DocRouterWithFallback(
-                        new ExplicitShardIdWithDynamicPropertyRouter(false),
-                        new DBIDRouter());
+                log.info("Sharding via EXPLICIT_ID");
+                return new ExplicitRouter(new DBIDRouter());
             default:
-                LOGGER.warn("WARNING! Unknown/unsupported sharding method ({}). System will fallback to DB_ID", method);
+                log.info("Sharding via DB_ID (default)");
                 return new DBIDRouter();
         }
     }
diff --git a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/PropertyRouter.java b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/PropertyRouter.java
index e57b43694..668265067 100644
--- a/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/PropertyRouter.java
+++ b/search-services/alfresco-search/src/main/java/org/alfresco/solr/tracker/PropertyRouter.java
@@ -34,63 +34,43 @@ import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 /**
  * Routes based on a text property field.
- * In this method, the value of some property is hashed and this hash is used to assign the node to a random shard.
- * All nodes with the same property value will be assigned to the same shard.
- * Each shard will duplicate all the ACL information.
- *
- * To use this method, when creating a shard add the new configuration properties:
- *
- * <ul>
- *     <li>shard.key=cm:creator</li>
- *     <li>shard.method=PROPERTY</li>
- *     <li>shard.instance=&lt;shard.instance></li>
- *     <li>shard.count=&lt;shard.count></li>
- * </ul>
- *
- * It is possible to extract a part of the property value to use for sharding using a regular expression,
- * for example, a year at the start of a string:
- *
- * <ul>
- *     <li>shard.regex=^\d{4}</li>
- * </ul>
  *
  * @author Gethin James
- * @see <a href="https://docs.alfresco.com/search-enterprise/concepts/solr-shard-approaches.html">Search Services sharding methods</a>
  */
 public class PropertyRouter implements DocRouter
 {
-    private final static Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PropertyRouter.class);
+    protected final static Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PropertyRouter.class);
 
-    Pattern pattern;
-    String propertyRegEx;
+    Pattern pattern = null;
+    private String propertyRegEx;
 
     //Fallback to DB_ID routing
-    DocRouter fallback = DocRouterFactory.getRouter(null, ShardMethodEnum.DB_ID);
+    private DocRouter fallback = DocRouterFactory.getRouter(null, ShardMethodEnum.DB_ID);
 
     public PropertyRouter(String propertyRegEx)
     {
-        if (propertyRegEx != null && propertyRegEx.trim().length() > 0)
+        if (propertyRegEx != null && !propertyRegEx.isEmpty())
         {
             this.propertyRegEx = propertyRegEx;
-        	pattern = Pattern.compile(propertyRegEx.trim());
+            pattern = Pattern.compile(propertyRegEx);
         }
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Boolean routeAcl(int shardCount, int shardInstance, Acl acl)
+    public boolean routeAcl(int shardCount, int shardInstance, Acl acl)
     {
         return true;
     }
 
     @Override
-    public Boolean routeNode(int shardCount, int shardInstance, Node node)
+    public boolean routeNode(int shardCount, int shardInstance, Node node)
     {
         if(shardCount <= 1)
         {
             return true;
         }
-
         String shardBy = node.getShardPropertyValue();
+
         if (shardBy !=null && pattern != null)
         {
             try
@@ -108,14 +88,14 @@ public class PropertyRouter implements DocRouter
             }
             catch (IndexOutOfBoundsException | NullPointerException exc)
             {
-                LOGGER.debug("Regex matched, but group 1 not found, so falling back to DBID sharding.");
+                log.debug("Regex matched, but group 1 not found, so falling back to DBID sharding.");
                 shardBy = null;
             }
         }
 
         if (shardBy == null || shardBy.isEmpty())
         {
-            LOGGER.debug("Property not found or regex not matched, so falling back to DBID sharding.");
+            log.debug("Property not found or regex not matched, so falling back to DBID sharding.");
             return fallback.routeNode(shardCount,shardInstance,node);
         }