diff --git a/beetsplug/substitute.py b/beetsplug/substitute.py
index d6476ae2f..ebf6cacbe 100644
--- a/beetsplug/substitute.py
+++ b/beetsplug/substitute.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ Uses user-specified substitution rules to canonicalize names for path formats.
 """
 
 import re
-import textwrap
 
 from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 
@@ -49,31 +48,8 @@ class Substitute(BeetsPlugin):
         substitute rules.
         """
         super().__init__()
-        self.substitute_rules = []
         self.template_funcs["substitute"] = self.tmpl_substitute
-
-        if isinstance(self.config.get(), dict):
-            self._log.warning(
-                "Unordered configuration is deprecated, as it leads to"
-                + " unpredictable behaviour on overlapping rules.\n"
-                + textwrap.dedent(
-                    """
-                    Old syntax:
-                      substitute:
-                        a: b
-                        c: d
-
-                    New syntax:
-                      substitute:
-                      - a: b
-                      - c: d
-                    """
-                )
-            )
-            pairs = self.config.flatten().items()
-        else:
-            pairs = self.config.as_pairs()
-
-        for key, value in pairs:
-            pattern = re.compile(key, flags=re.IGNORECASE)
-            self.substitute_rules.append((pattern, value))
+        self.substitute_rules = [
+            (re.compile(key, flags=re.IGNORECASE), value)
+            for key, value in self.config.flatten().items()
+        ]
diff --git a/docs/plugins/substitute.rst b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
index 2f66ef75b..87ee2ad45 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@ Experience to be sorted into the same folder as solo Hendrix albums.
 This plugin is intended as a replacement for the ``rewrite`` plugin. While
 the ``rewrite`` plugin modifies the metadata, this plugin does not.
 
-Enable the ``substitute`` plugin (see :ref:`using-plugins`), then make a ``substitute:`` section in your config file to contain a list of your rules.
+Enable the ``substitute`` plugin (see :ref:`using-plugins`), then make a ``substitute:`` section in your config file to contain your rules.
 Each rule consists of a case-insensitive regular expression pattern, and a
 replacement string. For example, you might use:
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
     substitute:
-      - .*jimi hendrix.*: Jimi Hendrix
+      .*jimi hendrix.*: Jimi Hendrix
 
 The replacement can be an expression utilising the matched regex, allowing us
 to create more general rules. Say for example, we want to sort all albums by
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ group in the output, discarding the rest of the string.
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
     substitute:
-      - ^(.*?)(,| &| and).*: \1
+      ^(.*?)(,| &| and).*: \1
 
 This would handle all the below cases in a single rule:
 
diff --git a/test/plugins/test_substitute.py b/test/plugins/test_substitute.py
index d193400d6..1662b8849 100644
--- a/test/plugins/test_substitute.py
+++ b/test/plugins/test_substitute.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 """Test the substitute plugin regex functionality."""
 
-from beets.test.helper import PluginTestCase, capture_log
+from beets.test.helper import PluginTestCase
 from beetsplug.substitute import Substitute
 
 
@@ -29,29 +29,29 @@ class SubstitutePluginTest(PluginTestCase):
 
     def test_simple_substitute(self):
         self.run_substitute(
-            [
-                {"a": "b"},
-                {"b": "c"},
-                {"c": "d"},
-            ],
+            {
+                "a": "b",
+                "b": "c",
+                "c": "d",
+            },
             [("a", "b"), ("b", "c"), ("c", "d")],
         )
 
     def test_case_insensitivity(self):
-        self.run_substitute([{"a": "b"}], [("A", "b")])
+        self.run_substitute({"a": "b"}, [("A", "b")])
 
     def test_unmatched_input_preserved(self):
-        self.run_substitute([{"a": "b"}], [("c", "c")])
+        self.run_substitute({"a": "b"}, [("c", "c")])
 
     def test_regex_to_static(self):
         self.run_substitute(
-            [{".*jimi hendrix.*": "Jimi Hendrix"}],
+            {".*jimi hendrix.*": "Jimi Hendrix"},
             [("The Jimi Hendrix Experience", "Jimi Hendrix")],
         )
 
     def test_regex_capture_group(self):
         self.run_substitute(
-            [{"^(.*?)(,| &| and).*": r"\1"}],
+            {"^(.*?)(,| &| and).*": r"\1"},
             [
                 ("King Creosote & Jon Hopkins", "King Creosote"),
                 (
@@ -64,44 +64,16 @@ class SubstitutePluginTest(PluginTestCase):
         )
 
     def test_partial_substitution(self):
-        self.run_substitute([{r"\.": ""}], [("U.N.P.O.C.", "UNPOC")])
+        self.run_substitute({r"\.": ""}, [("U.N.P.O.C.", "UNPOC")])
 
     def test_break_on_first_match(self):
-        self.run_substitute(
-            [
-                {"a": "b"},
-                {"[ab]": "c"},
-            ],
-            [
-                ("a", "b"),
-                ("b", "c"),
-            ],
-        )
-
-    def test_deprecated_config(self):
         self.run_substitute(
             {
-                "a": "b",
-                "b": "c",
-                "c": "d",
+                "a": "x",
+                "[ab]": "y",
             },
-            [("a", "b"), ("b", "c"), ("c", "d")],
+            [
+                ("a", "x"),
+                ("b", "y"),
+            ],
         )
-
-    def test_deprecated_config_warning(self):
-        with capture_log() as logs:
-            with self.configure_plugin(
-                {
-                    "a": "b",
-                    "b": "c",
-                    "c": "d",
-                }
-            ):
-                assert any(
-                    [
-                        "Unordered configuration is deprecated, as it leads to"
-                        + " unpredictable behaviour on overlapping rules"
-                        in log
-                        for log in logs
-                    ]
-                )