diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller.go
index 469a6485bd4c..54877b8b6460 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller.go
@@ -259,10 +259,7 @@ func (c *machineController) findMachineByProviderID(providerID normalizedProvide
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 
-	machineID, ok := node.Annotations[machineAnnotationKey]
-	if !ok {
-		machineID = node.Annotations[deprecatedMachineAnnotationKey]
-	}
+	machineID, _ := node.Annotations[machineAnnotationKey]
 	return c.findMachine(machineID)
 }
 
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller_test.go
index 3a1dfec3d9d5..158c5b78e75e 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_controller_test.go
@@ -596,12 +596,11 @@ func TestControllerFindMachine(t *testing.T) {
 				for i := range testConfig.machines {
 					n := testConfig.nodes[i]
 					annotations := n.GetAnnotations()
-					val, ok := annotations[machineAnnotationKey]
+					_, ok := annotations[machineAnnotationKey]
 					if !ok {
 						t.Fatal("node did not contain machineAnnotationKey")
 					}
 					delete(annotations, machineAnnotationKey)
-					annotations[deprecatedMachineAnnotationKey] = val
 					n.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup.go
index c8f10b5ad13d..fc7fbda98f06 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup.go
@@ -28,10 +28,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	// deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey should not be removed until minimum cluster-api support is v1alpha3
-	deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey = "cluster.k8s.io/delete-machine"
-	// TODO: determine what currently relies on deprecatedMachineAnnotationKey to determine when it can be removed
-	deprecatedMachineAnnotationKey = "cluster.k8s.io/machine"
 	debugFormat                    = "%s (min: %d, max: %d, replicas: %d)"
 )
 
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup_test.go
index 75cccf7cd991..f78ad247370e 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_nodegroup_test.go
@@ -649,9 +649,6 @@ func TestNodeGroupDeleteNodes(t *testing.T) {
 			if _, found := machine.GetAnnotations()[machineDeleteAnnotationKey]; !found {
 				t.Errorf("expected annotation %q on machine %s", machineDeleteAnnotationKey, machine.GetName())
 			}
-			if _, found := machine.GetAnnotations()[deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey]; !found {
-				t.Errorf("expected annotation %q on machine %s", deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey, machine.GetName())
-			}
 		}
 
 		gvr, err := ng.scalableResource.GroupVersionResource()
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_unstructured.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_unstructured.go
index ac6991bebbe9..ad528ea907db 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_unstructured.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_unstructured.go
@@ -130,7 +130,6 @@ func (r unstructuredScalableResource) UnmarkMachineForDeletion(machine *unstruct
 
 	annotations := u.GetAnnotations()
 	delete(annotations, machineDeleteAnnotationKey)
-	delete(annotations, deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey)
 	u.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 	_, updateErr := r.controller.managementClient.Resource(r.controller.machineResource).Namespace(u.GetNamespace()).Update(context.TODO(), u, metav1.UpdateOptions{})
 
@@ -151,7 +150,6 @@ func (r unstructuredScalableResource) MarkMachineForDeletion(machine *unstructur
 	}
 
 	annotations[machineDeleteAnnotationKey] = time.Now().String()
-	annotations[deprecatedMachineDeleteAnnotationKey] = time.Now().String()
 	u.SetAnnotations(annotations)
 
 	_, updateErr := r.controller.managementClient.Resource(r.controller.machineResource).Namespace(u.GetNamespace()).Update(context.TODO(), u, metav1.UpdateOptions{})