diff --git a/docs/usage/self-hosted-configuration.md b/docs/usage/self-hosted-configuration.md
index 3f243012c107af..b6673d42fc629a 100644
--- a/docs/usage/self-hosted-configuration.md
+++ b/docs/usage/self-hosted-configuration.md
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ e.g.
 
 ```json
 {
-  "autodiscoverFilter": ["project/*"]
+  "autodiscoverFilter": "project/*"
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/lib/config/definitions.ts b/lib/config/definitions.ts
index 9d9d2c57f8c3a6..ecc1d455c5f7b1 100644
--- a/lib/config/definitions.ts
+++ b/lib/config/definitions.ts
@@ -579,9 +579,7 @@ const options: RenovateOptions[] = [
     name: 'autodiscoverFilter',
     description: 'Filter the list of autodiscovered repositories.',
     stage: 'global',
-    type: 'array',
-    subType: 'string',
-    allowString: true,
+    type: 'string',
     default: null,
   },
   {
diff --git a/lib/config/types.ts b/lib/config/types.ts
index d873e9027c24ad..7ae1789e6f9a7a 100644
--- a/lib/config/types.ts
+++ b/lib/config/types.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export interface RenovateSharedConfig {
 // The below should contain config options where stage=global
 export interface GlobalOnlyConfig {
   autodiscover?: boolean;
-  autodiscoverFilter?: string[];
+  autodiscoverFilter?: string;
   baseDir?: string;
   forceCli?: boolean;
   gitPrivateKey?: string;
diff --git a/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.spec.ts b/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.spec.ts
index bec82c983af74b..7779fcd41ff571 100644
--- a/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.spec.ts
@@ -49,36 +49,18 @@ describe(getName(__filename), () => {
   });
   it('filters autodiscovered github repos', async () => {
     config.autodiscover = true;
-    config.autodiscoverFilter = ['project/re*', 'new/prj*'];
+    config.autodiscoverFilter = 'project/re*';
     config.platform = PLATFORM_TYPE_GITHUB;
     hostRules.find = jest.fn(() => ({
       token: 'abc',
     }));
     ghApi.getRepos = jest.fn(() =>
-      Promise.resolve([
-        'project/repo',
-        'project/another-repo',
-        'new/prj-test',
-        'new/not-matched',
-      ])
+      Promise.resolve(['project/repo', 'project/another-repo'])
     );
     const res = await autodiscoverRepositories(config);
-    expect(res.repositories).toEqual(['project/repo', 'new/prj-test']);
+    expect(res.repositories).toEqual(['project/repo']);
   });
   it('filters autodiscovered github repos but nothing matches', async () => {
-    config.autodiscover = true;
-    config.autodiscoverFilter = ['project/re*'];
-    config.platform = 'github';
-    hostRules.find = jest.fn(() => ({
-      token: 'abc',
-    }));
-    ghApi.getRepos = jest.fn(() =>
-      Promise.resolve(['another-project/repo', 'another-project/another-repo'])
-    );
-    const res = await autodiscoverRepositories(config);
-    expect(res).toEqual(config);
-  });
-  it('filters autodiscovered github repos with string variable', async () => {
     config.autodiscover = true;
     config.autodiscoverFilter = 'project/re*';
     config.platform = 'github';
diff --git a/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.ts b/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.ts
index bfc3b666d2d0a3..396f32b9e2c19b 100644
--- a/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/global/autodiscover.ts
@@ -30,14 +30,7 @@ export async function autodiscoverRepositories(
     return config;
   }
   if (config.autodiscoverFilter) {
-    const matched = new Set<string>();
-
-    for (const filter of config.autodiscoverFilter) {
-      const res = minimatch.match(discovered, filter);
-      res.forEach((e) => matched.add(e));
-    }
-
-    discovered = [...matched];
+    discovered = discovered.filter(minimatch.filter(config.autodiscoverFilter));
     if (!discovered.length) {
       // Soft fail (no error thrown) if no accessible repositories match the filter
       logger.debug('None of the discovered repositories matched the filter');