diff --git a/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md b/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md
index 1151bd65d624ac..2f00716900c3b6 100644
--- a/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md
+++ b/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md
@@ -27,11 +27,6 @@ If set to any integer, Renovate will use this integer instead of the default npm
 If set to any value, Renovate will skip its default artifacts filter check in the Maven datasource.
 Skiping the check will speed things up, but may result in versions being returned which don't properly exist on the server.
 
-## RENOVATE_LEGACY_GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL
-
-An additional `gitAuthor` email to ignore.
-This variable is deprecated: use `ignoredAuthors` instead.
-
 ## RENOVATE_PAGINATE_ALL
 
 If set to any value, Renovate will always paginate requests to GitHub fully, instead of stopping after 10 pages.
diff --git a/lib/util/git/index.ts b/lib/util/git/index.ts
index 3ced1d68ead6f5..829f18abe8cdcd 100644
--- a/lib/util/git/index.ts
+++ b/lib/util/git/index.ts
@@ -488,7 +488,6 @@ export async function isBranchModified(branchName: string): Promise<boolean> {
   ).trim();
   const { gitAuthorEmail } = config;
   if (
-    lastAuthor === process.env.RENOVATE_LEGACY_GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL || // remove in next major release
     lastAuthor === gitAuthorEmail ||
     config.ignoredAuthors.some((ignoredAuthor) => lastAuthor === ignoredAuthor)
   ) {