diff --git a/Control/AthenaConfiguration/python/AthConfigFlags.py b/Control/AthenaConfiguration/python/AthConfigFlags.py
index a780eb12579cdbed82bd2a69d7c801ba1cced675..ea39146a44270690d817bc52729d762218b04e13 100644
--- a/Control/AthenaConfiguration/python/AthConfigFlags.py
+++ b/Control/AthenaConfiguration/python/AthConfigFlags.py
@@ -5,12 +5,6 @@ from difflib import get_close_matches
 import importlib
 from AthenaCommon.Logging import logging
 from PyUtils.moduleExists import moduleExists
-try:
-    from PyUtils.Decorators import deprecate
-except ModuleNotFoundError:
-    # define a noop decorator for now
-    def deprecate(*args, **kwargs):
-        return lambda x: x
 
 _msg = logging.getLogger('AthConfigFlags')
 
@@ -351,7 +345,6 @@ class AthConfigFlags(object):
             raise KeyError(f"No flag with name '{name}' found" +
                            (f". Did you mean '{closestMatch[0]}'?" if closestMatch else ""))
 
-    @deprecate("Use '[...]' rather than '(...)' to access flags", print_context=True)
     def __call__(self,name):
         return self._get(name)