diff --git a/beetsplug/musicbrainz.py b/beetsplug/musicbrainz.py
index 524fb3c8c..171fe5381 100644
--- a/beetsplug/musicbrainz.py
+++ b/beetsplug/musicbrainz.py
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import traceback
 from collections import Counter
+from contextlib import suppress
 from functools import cached_property
 from itertools import product
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Iterable, Sequence
 from urllib.parse import urljoin
 
 import musicbrainzngs
+from confuse.exceptions import NotFoundError
 
 import beets
 import beets.autotag.hooks
@@ -371,7 +373,7 @@ class MusicBrainzPlugin(MetadataSourcePlugin):
                 "https": False,
                 "ratelimit": 1,
                 "ratelimit_interval": 1,
-                "searchlimit": 5,
+                "search_limit": 5,
                 "genres": False,
                 "external_ids": {
                     "discogs": False,
@@ -383,6 +385,15 @@ class MusicBrainzPlugin(MetadataSourcePlugin):
                 "extra_tags": [],
             },
         )
+        # TODO: Remove in 3.0.0
+        with suppress(NotFoundError):
+            self.config["search_limit"] = self.config["match"][
+                "searchlimit"
+            ].get()
+            self._log.warning(
+                "'musicbrainz.searchlimit' option is deprecated and will be "
+                "removed in 3.0.0. Use 'musicbrainz.search_limit' instead."
+            )
         hostname = self.config["host"].as_str()
         https = self.config["https"].get(bool)
         # Only call set_hostname when a custom server is configured. Since
@@ -799,7 +810,7 @@ class MusicBrainzPlugin(MetadataSourcePlugin):
         )
         try:
             method = getattr(musicbrainzngs, f"search_{query_type}s")
-            res = method(limit=self.config["searchlimit"].get(int), **filters)
+            res = method(limit=self.config["search_limit"].get(int), **filters)
         except musicbrainzngs.MusicBrainzError as exc:
             raise MusicBrainzAPIError(
                 exc, f"{query_type} search", filters, traceback.format_exc()
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 1cc537136..d27596b64 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -2554,7 +2554,7 @@ Major new features and bigger changes:
   analysis tool. Thanks to :user:`jmwatte`. :bug:`1343`
 - A new ``filesize`` field on items indicates the number of bytes in the file.
   :bug:`1291`
-- A new :ref:`searchlimit` configuration option allows you to specify how many
+- A new :ref:`search_limit` configuration option allows you to specify how many
   search results you wish to see when looking up releases at MusicBrainz during
   import. :bug:`1245`
 - The importer now records the data source for a match in a new flexible
diff --git a/docs/plugins/musicbrainz.rst b/docs/plugins/musicbrainz.rst
index fe22335b0..ed8eefa36 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/musicbrainz.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/musicbrainz.rst
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Default
         https: no
         ratelimit: 1
         ratelimit_interval: 1.0
-        searchlimit: 5
+        search_limit: 5
         extra_tags: []
         genres: no
         external_ids:
@@ -82,16 +82,21 @@ make the import process quicker.
 
 Default: ``yes``.
 
-.. _searchlimit:
+.. _search_limit:
 
-searchlimit
-+++++++++++
+search_limit
+++++++++++++
 
 The number of matches returned when sending search queries to the MusicBrainz
 server.
 
 Default: ``5``.
 
+searchlimit
++++++++++++
+
+.. deprecated:: 2.4 Use `search_limit`_.
+
 .. _extra_tags:
 
 extra_tags