diff --git a/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/Metadata.php b/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/Metadata.php
index f7a1a389aaa29328fb81157b4a51a641a1f0ca0f..d47526213791eb83fdf44b6ab5ac338aa3338934 100644
--- a/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/Metadata.php
+++ b/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/Metadata.php
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ class Metadata
     /**
      * This method parses the different possible values of the NameIDPolicy metadata configuration.
      *
-     * @param mixed $nameIdPolicy
+     * @param null|array|false $nameIdPolicy
      *
      * @return null|array
      */
@@ -270,10 +270,7 @@ class Metadata
     {
         $policy = null;
 
-        if (is_string($nameIdPolicy)) {
-            // handle old configurations where 'NameIDPolicy' was used to specify just the format
-            $policy = ['Format' => $nameIdPolicy, 'AllowCreate' => true];
-        } elseif (is_array($nameIdPolicy)) {
+        if (is_array($nameIdPolicy)) {
             // handle current configurations specifying an array in the NameIDPolicy config option
             $nameIdPolicy_cf = Configuration::loadFromArray($nameIdPolicy);
             $policy = [
diff --git a/tests/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/MetadataTest.php b/tests/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/MetadataTest.php
index 8f38a7f2390dc7a5b53f0bbc0fd15df1c5d5af33..69f55762a05417f0c8146ada46da449bb6a435dc 100644
--- a/tests/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/MetadataTest.php
+++ b/tests/src/SimpleSAML/Utils/Config/MetadataTest.php
@@ -236,13 +236,6 @@ class MetadataTest extends TestCase
         $nameIdPolicy = false;
         $this->assertEquals(null, Metadata::parseNameIdPolicy($nameIdPolicy));
 
-        // Test string
-        $nameIdPolicy = 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress';
-        $this->assertEquals(
-            ['Format' => 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress', 'AllowCreate' => true],
-            Metadata::parseNameIdPolicy($nameIdPolicy)
-        );
-
         // Test array
         $nameIdPolicy = [
             'Format' => 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:persistent',