diff --git a/doc/settings/backups.md b/doc/settings/backups.md
index 768e94e4183d6ea57aff677013c01d32280a930f_ZG9jL3NldHRpbmdzL2JhY2t1cHMubWQ=..a40bd8dceaa662810d34a0d12f77158d21a52d1d_ZG9jL3NldHRpbmdzL2JhY2t1cHMubWQ= 100644
--- a/doc/settings/backups.md
+++ b/doc/settings/backups.md
@@ -84,9 +84,8 @@
 You can provide the parameter `--no-delete-old-backups` if you want to keep all existing backups.
 
 WARNING:
-If no parameter is provided the current default is `--no-delete-old-backups`. In GitLab 14.0 the default setting
-will be `--delete-old-backups` - meaning that we will begin removing older configuration backups by default,
-according to your `backup_keep_time` setting.
+If no parameter is provided the default is `--delete-old-backups`, which will delete any backups
+older than the current time minus the `backup_keep_time`, if `backup_keep_time` is greater than 0.
 
 ### Separate configuration backups from application data
 
diff --git a/files/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl/backup.rb b/files/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl/backup.rb
index 768e94e4183d6ea57aff677013c01d32280a930f_ZmlsZXMvZ2l0bGFiLWN0bC1jb21tYW5kcy9saWIvZ2l0bGFiX2N0bC9iYWNrdXAucmI=..a40bd8dceaa662810d34a0d12f77158d21a52d1d_ZmlsZXMvZ2l0bGFiLWN0bC1jb21tYW5kcy9saWIvZ2l0bGFiX2N0bC9iYWNrdXAucmI= 100644
--- a/files/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl/backup.rb
+++ b/files/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl/backup.rb
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@
     end
 
     def wants_pruned
-      # in 14.0, change default to `true`
-      @delete_old_backups.nil? ? false : @delete_old_backups
+      @delete_old_backups.nil? ? true : @delete_old_backups
     end
 
     def removable_archives
@@ -64,9 +63,6 @@
     end
 
     def prune
-      # warn users that 14.0 will delete old backups by default
-      warn_breaking_change if backup_keep_time.positive?
-
       if wants_pruned && backup_keep_time.positive?
         remove_backups
       else
@@ -102,13 +98,6 @@
       puts "Configuration backup archive complete: #{archive_path}"
     end
 
-    def warn_breaking_change
-      warn("WARNING: In GitLab 14.0 we will begin removing all configuration"\
-           " backups older than your"\
-           "gitlab_rails['backup_keep_time'] setting"\
-           " (currently set to: #{backup_keep_time})")
-    end
-
     def remove_backups
       # delete old backups
       removed_count = 0
diff --git a/spec/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl_backup_spec.rb b/spec/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl_backup_spec.rb
index 768e94e4183d6ea57aff677013c01d32280a930f_c3BlYy9naXRsYWItY3RsLWNvbW1hbmRzL2xpYi9naXRsYWJfY3RsX2JhY2t1cF9zcGVjLnJi..a40bd8dceaa662810d34a0d12f77158d21a52d1d_c3BlYy9naXRsYWItY3RsLWNvbW1hbmRzL2xpYi9naXRsYWJfY3RsX2JhY2t1cF9zcGVjLnJi 100644
--- a/spec/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl_backup_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/gitlab-ctl-commands/lib/gitlab_ctl_backup_spec.rb
@@ -60,5 +60,5 @@
       allow(GitlabCtl::Util).to receive(:get_node_attributes).and_return({})
     end
 
-    it 'should not attempt to delete old backups' do
+    it 'should default to deleting old backups' do
       backup = GitlabCtl::Backup.new
@@ -64,6 +64,5 @@
       backup = GitlabCtl::Backup.new
-      expect(backup).to receive(:wants_pruned).and_return(false)
-      backup.prune
+      expect(backup.wants_pruned).to eq(true)
     end
 
     context 'when the backup path is readable by non-root' do
@@ -200,10 +199,6 @@
         allow(Dir).to receive(:glob).and_return(all_backup_files)
       end
 
-      it 'should warn the user of the coming breaking change' do
-        expect { @backup.prune }.to output(a_string_matching(warning_message)).to_stderr
-      end
-
       it 'should identify the correct files to remove' do
         removed = past_valid_backup_files.map do |x|
           File.join(backup_dir_path, x)
@@ -255,10 +250,6 @@
         allow(Dir).to receive(:glob).and_return(future_valid_backup_files)
       end
 
-      it 'should warn the user of the coming breaking change' do
-        expect { @backup.prune }.to output(a_string_matching(warning_message)).to_stderr
-      end
-
       it 'should find no files to remove' do
         allow_any_instance_of(Kernel).to receive(:warn)
         expect(@backup.removable_archives.length).to equal(0)