diff --git a/changelogs/current.yaml b/changelogs/current.yaml
index cf1201c0c0a9..28ea9a0ef938 100644
--- a/changelogs/current.yaml
+++ b/changelogs/current.yaml
@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ removed_config_or_runtime:
 - area: stateful_session
   change: |
     Removed ``envoy.reloadable_features.stateful_session_encode_ttl_in_cookie`` runtime flag and legacy code paths.
+- area: upstream
+  change: |
+    Removed runtime flag ``envoy.reloadable_features.upstream_allow_connect_with_2xx`` and legacy code paths.
 - area: upstream flow control
   change: |
     Removed ``envoy.reloadable_features.upstream_wait_for_response_headers_before_disabling_read`` runtime flag
diff --git a/source/common/router/upstream_codec_filter.cc b/source/common/router/upstream_codec_filter.cc
index 56ac395dd40b..846645a5e000 100644
--- a/source/common/router/upstream_codec_filter.cc
+++ b/source/common/router/upstream_codec_filter.cc
@@ -148,10 +148,7 @@ void UpstreamCodecFilter::CodecBridge::decodeHeaders(Http::ResponseHeaderMapPtr&
       filter_.callbacks_->dispatcher().timeSource());
 
   if (filter_.callbacks_->upstreamCallbacks()->pausedForConnect() &&
-      ((Http::Utility::getResponseStatus(*headers) == 200) ||
-       ((Runtime::runtimeFeatureEnabled(
-            "envoy.reloadable_features.upstream_allow_connect_with_2xx")) &&
-        (Http::CodeUtility::is2xx(Http::Utility::getResponseStatus(*headers)))))) {
+      ((Http::CodeUtility::is2xx(Http::Utility::getResponseStatus(*headers))))) {
     filter_.callbacks_->upstreamCallbacks()->setPausedForConnect(false);
     filter_.callbacks_->continueDecoding();
   }
diff --git a/source/common/runtime/runtime_features.cc b/source/common/runtime/runtime_features.cc
index d97c1bfeeadf..471a5fac8994 100644
--- a/source/common/runtime/runtime_features.cc
+++ b/source/common/runtime/runtime_features.cc
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_tcp_tunneling_send_downstream_fin_on_ups
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_test_feature_true);
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_udp_socket_apply_aggregated_read_limit);
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_uhv_allow_malformed_url_encoding);
-RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_upstream_allow_connect_with_2xx);
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_upstream_remote_address_use_connection);
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_use_typed_metadata_in_proxy_protocol_listener);
 RUNTIME_GUARD(envoy_reloadable_features_validate_connect);