diff --git a/pkgs/contract-profile/boundary-view.rkt b/pkgs/contract-profile/boundary-view.rkt
index 52769a235b..998002f6dc 100644
--- a/pkgs/contract-profile/boundary-view.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/contract-profile/boundary-view.rkt
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
   (printf "splines=\"true\"\n") ; polyline kinda works too, maybe
 
   ;; cluster nodes per module, to show boundaries
-  (for ([module-nodes (in-list (group-by equal? nodes #:key node->module))]
+  (for ([module-nodes (in-list (group-by node->module nodes))]
         [cluster-idx  (in-naturals 1)])
     (define known-module? (node->module (first module-nodes)))
     ;; don't cluster nodes for which we have no module info
diff --git a/pkgs/contract-profile/main.rkt b/pkgs/contract-profile/main.rkt
index 9eb4036ee5..daf7f861d7 100644
--- a/pkgs/contract-profile/main.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/contract-profile/main.rkt
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@
 
   (displayln "\nBY CONTRACT\n")
   (define samples-by-contract
-    (sort (group-by equal? live-contract-samples
-                    #:key (lambda (x) (blame-contract (car x))))
+    (sort (group-by (lambda (x) (blame-contract (car x)))
+                    live-contract-samples)
           > #:key length #:cache-keys? #t))
   (for ([c (in-list samples-by-contract)])
     (define representative (caar c))
@@ -78,8 +78,9 @@
     (define representative (caar g))
     (print-contract/loc representative)
     (for ([x (sort
-              (group-by equal? g
-                        #:key (lambda (x) (blame-value (car x)))) ; callee source, maybe
+              (group-by (lambda (x)
+                          (blame-value (car x))) ; callee source, maybe
+                        g)
               > #:key length)])
       (printf "  ~a\n  ~a ms\n"
               (blame-value (caar x))
@@ -88,8 +89,8 @@
 
   (define samples-by-contract-by-caller
     (for/list ([g (in-list samples-by-contract)])
-      (sort (group-by equal? (map sample-prune-stack-trace g)
-                      #:key cddr) ; pruned stack trace
+      (sort (group-by cddr ; pruned stack trace
+                      (map sample-prune-stack-trace g))
             > #:key length)))
 
   (displayln "\nBY CALLER\n")
diff --git a/pkgs/unstable-list-lib/unstable/list.rkt b/pkgs/unstable-list-lib/unstable/list.rkt
index e897654799..8606ce1089 100644
--- a/pkgs/unstable-list-lib/unstable/list.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/unstable-list-lib/unstable/list.rkt
@@ -158,10 +158,10 @@
 
 ;; stamourv added:
 
-;; (y y -> bool) (listof x) #:key (x -> y) -> (listof (listof x))
+;; (x -> y) (listof x) [(y y -> bool)] -> (listof (listof x))
 ;; groups together elements that are considered equal
 ;; =? should be reflexive, transitive and commutative
-(define (group-by =? l #:key [key values])
+(define (group-by key l [=? equal?])
   (for/fold ([res '()]) ; list of lists
       ([elt (in-list l)])
     (let loop ([classes     res] ; "zipper" of the equivalence classes
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@
                    (cons (car classes) rev-classes))]))))
 
 (provide/contract
- [group-by (->* (procedure? list?) (#:key procedure?)
+ [group-by (->* (procedure? list?) (procedure?)
                 list?)])
 
 ;; endobson added:
diff --git a/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-doc/scribblings/list.scrbl b/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-doc/scribblings/list.scrbl
index eaca5f04dd..db2540293d 100644
--- a/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-doc/scribblings/list.scrbl
+++ b/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-doc/scribblings/list.scrbl
@@ -161,16 +161,16 @@ for which @racket[pred] produces a true value.
 
 @addition{Vincent St-Amour}
 
-@defproc[(group-by [=? (-> B B any/c)]
+@defproc[(group-by [extract-key (-> A B)]
                    [lst (listof A)]
-                   [#:key extract-key (-> A B) values])
+                   [=? (-> B B any/c) equal?])
          (listof (listof A))]{
 
 Groups the given list into equivalence classes, with equivalence being
 determined by @racket[=?].
 
 @examples[#:eval the-eval
-(group-by = '(1 2 1 2 54 2 5 43 7 2 643 1 2 0))
+(group-by (lambda (x) (modulo x 3)) '(1 2 1 2 54 2 5 43 7 2 643 1 2 0))
 ]
 }
 
diff --git a/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-test/tests/unstable/list.rkt b/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-test/tests/unstable/list.rkt
index 98af4b2e69..8fb199649d 100644
--- a/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-test/tests/unstable/list.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/unstable-pkgs/unstable-test/tests/unstable/list.rkt
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@
          (check-equal? bs '(4 5 6))
          (check-equal? cs '(7 8 9)))))
    (test-suite "group-by"
-     (check-equal? (group-by = '(1 4 2 56 2 3))
+     (check-equal? (group-by values '(1 4 2 56 2 3))
                    '((3) (56) (2 2) (4) (1)))
-     (check-equal? (group-by = '(1 2 1 2 54 2 5 43 7 2 643 1 2 0))
+     (check-equal? (group-by values '(1 2 1 2 54 2 5 43 7 2 643 1 2 0))
                    '((0) (2 2 2 2 2) (7) (43) (5) (54) (643) (1 1 1)))
-     (check-equal? (group-by (lambda (x y) (or (and (even? x) (even? y))
-                                               (and (odd?  x) (odd?  y))))
-                             '(1 4 2 56 2 3))
+     (check-equal? (group-by values
+                             '(1 4 2 56 2 3)
+                             (lambda (x y) (or (and (even? x) (even? y))
+                                               (and (odd?  x) (odd?  y)))))
                    '((2 56 2 4) (3 1)))
-     (check-equal? (group-by = '((1 a) (4 b) (2 c) (56 d) (2 e) (3 f))
-                             #:key car)
+     (check-equal? (group-by car '((1 a) (4 b) (2 c) (56 d) (2 e) (3 f)))
                     '(((3 f)) ((56 d)) ((2 e) (2 c)) ((4 b)) ((1 a)))))))