diff --git a/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md b/docs/usage/self-hosted-experimental.md
index 1151bd65d624acbb9c6730a87592add0deca66e0..2f00716900c3b6269365ef2dc5a4ef8e863ac827 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 3ced1d68ead6f5a60a9bf3dd55b6a4eedecebdc5..829f18abe8cdcd6b93f72c90bbd356dfed4f7402 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)
   ) {