diff --git a/resources/config.test.ci.edn b/resources/config.test.ci.edn
index 0f56ab5a..900f913c 100644
--- a/resources/config.test.ci.edn
+++ b/resources/config.test.ci.edn
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
             :statsd               {:host    "localhost"
                                    :port    [8125 :int]
                                    :enabled [false :bool]}
-            :alpha-features       {:protobuf-middleware {:enabled false}}
             :sentry               {:enabled                   [false :bool]
                                    :dsn                       "dummy"
                                    :worker-count              [10 :int]
diff --git a/resources/config.test.edn b/resources/config.test.edn
index b2be5b5d..47b41852 100644
--- a/resources/config.test.edn
+++ b/resources/config.test.edn
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
                                    :port    [8125 :int]
                                    :enabled [false :bool]}
             :metrics              {:constructor "ziggurat.dropwizard-metrics-wrapper/->DropwizardMetrics"}
-            :alpha-features       {:protobuf-middleware {:enabled false}}
+            :alpha-features       {}
             :sentry               {:enabled                   [false :bool]
                                    :dsn                       "dummy"
                                    :worker-count              [10 :int]
diff --git a/src/ziggurat/config.clj b/src/ziggurat/config.clj
index 8fb4e97d..3fc47db2 100644
--- a/src/ziggurat/config.clj
+++ b/src/ziggurat/config.clj
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
                                                        :worker-count              10
                                                        :queue-size                10
                                                        :thread-termination-wait-s 1}
-                                :alpha-features       {:protobuf-middleware {:enabled false}}
                                 :rabbit-mq-connection {:port            5672
                                                        :username        "guest"
                                                        :password        "guest"
diff --git a/src/ziggurat/middleware/default.clj b/src/ziggurat/middleware/default.clj
index 387de713..1e527320 100644
--- a/src/ziggurat/middleware/default.clj
+++ b/src/ziggurat/middleware/default.clj
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   (:require [protobuf.impl.flatland.mapdef :as protodef]
             [sentry-clj.async :as sentry]
             [ziggurat.config :refer [get-in-config ziggurat-config]]
-            [flatland.protobuf.core :as proto]
             [ziggurat.metrics :as metrics]
             [ziggurat.sentry :refer [sentry-reporter]]))
 
@@ -15,15 +14,12 @@
   [message proto-class topic-entity-name]
   (if-not (map? message) ;; TODO: we should have proper dispatch logic per message type (not like this)
     (try
-      (let [[proto-define-fn proto-load-fn proto-schema-fn] (if (true? (get-in-config [:alpha-features :protobuf-middleware :enabled]))
-                                                              [protodef/mapdef protodef/parse protodef/mapdef->schema]
-                                                              [proto/protodef proto/protobuf-load proto/protobuf-schema])
-            proto-klass                                     (proto-define-fn proto-class)
-            loaded-proto                                    (proto-load-fn proto-klass message)
-            proto-keys                                      (-> proto-klass
-                                                                proto-schema-fn
-                                                                :fields
-                                                                keys)]
+      (let [proto-klass  (protodef/mapdef proto-class)
+            loaded-proto (protodef/parse proto-klass message)
+            proto-keys   (-> proto-klass
+                             protodef/mapdef->schema
+                             :fields
+                             keys)]
         (select-keys loaded-proto proto-keys))
       (catch Throwable e
         (let [service-name      (:app-name (ziggurat-config))
diff --git a/test/ziggurat/middleware/default_test.clj b/test/ziggurat/middleware/default_test.clj
index 74fe1dd2..1b4ad385 100644
--- a/test/ziggurat/middleware/default_test.clj
+++ b/test/ziggurat/middleware/default_test.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 (ns ziggurat.middleware.default-test
   (:require [clojure.test :refer [deftest is join-fixtures testing use-fixtures]]
             [protobuf.core :as proto]
-            [ziggurat.config :refer [ziggurat-config]]
             [ziggurat.fixtures :as fix]
             [ziggurat.metrics :as metrics]
             [ziggurat.middleware.default :as mw])
@@ -78,33 +77,14 @@
                                                        (reset! metric-reporter-called? true))]
         ((mw/protobuf->hash handler-fn nil topic-entity-name) (mw/->RegularMessage nil)))
       (is (true? @handler-fn-called?))
-      (is (true? @metric-reporter-called?)))))
-
-(deftest protobuf->hash-test-alpha-and-deprecated
-  (testing "Deprecated protobuf deserializer"
-    (with-redefs [ziggurat-config (fn [] {:alpha-features {:protobuf-middleware {:enabled false}}})]
-      (common-protobuf->hash-test)
-      (testing "When alpha feature is disabled use the old deserializer function"
-        (let [deserialize-message-called? (atom false)
-              topic-entity-name           "test"
-              message                     {:id   7
-                                           :path "/photos/h2k3j4h9h23"}
-              proto-class                 Example$Photo
-              proto-message               (proto/->bytes (proto/create Example$Photo message))]
-          (with-redefs [mw/deserialize-message (fn [_ _ _] (reset! deserialize-message-called? true))]
-            ((mw/protobuf->hash (constantly nil) proto-class topic-entity-name) (mw/->RegularMessage proto-message))
-            (is (true? @deserialize-message-called?)))))))
-  (testing "Alpha protobuf deserializer"
-    (with-redefs [ziggurat.config/ziggurat-config (fn [] {:alpha-features {:protobuf-middleware {:enabled true}}})]
-      (common-protobuf->hash-test)
-      (testing "When alpha feature is enabled use the new deserializer function"
-        (let [deserialize-message-called? (atom false)
-              topic-entity-name           "test"
-              message                     {:id   7
-                                           :path "/photos/h2k3j4h9h23"}
-              proto-class                 Example$Photo
-              proto-message               (proto/->bytes (proto/create Example$Photo message))]
-          (with-redefs [mw/deserialize-message (fn [_ _ _] (reset! deserialize-message-called? true))]
-
-            ((mw/protobuf->hash (constantly nil) proto-class topic-entity-name) (mw/->RegularMessage proto-message))
-            (is (true? @deserialize-message-called?))))))))
+      (is (true? @metric-reporter-called?))))
+  (testing "using the new deserializer function"
+    (let [deserialize-message-called? (atom false)
+          topic-entity-name           "test"
+          message                     {:id   7
+                                       :path "/photos/h2k3j4h9h23"}
+          proto-class                 Example$Photo
+          proto-message               (proto/->bytes (proto/create Example$Photo message))]
+      (with-redefs [mw/deserialize-message (fn [_ _ _] (reset! deserialize-message-called? true))]
+        ((mw/protobuf->hash (constantly nil) proto-class topic-entity-name) (mw/->RegularMessage proto-message))
+        (is (true? @deserialize-message-called?))))))