diff --git a/changelog.d/9462.misc b/changelog.d/9462.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b245bf85d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/9462.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove vestiges of `uploads_path` configuration setting.
diff --git a/docker/README.md b/docker/README.md
index c8f27b8566..7b138df4d3 100644
--- a/docker/README.md
+++ b/docker/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ The image also does *not* provide a TURN server.
 By default, the image expects a single volume, located at ``/data``, that will hold:
 
 * configuration files;
-* temporary files during uploads;
 * uploaded media and thumbnails;
 * the SQLite database if you do not configure postgres;
 * the appservices configuration.
diff --git a/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml b/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml
index 2ed570a5d1..0dea62a87d 100644
--- a/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml
+++ b/docker/conf/homeserver.yaml
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ federation_rc_concurrent: 3
 ## Files ##
 
 media_store_path: "/data/media"
-uploads_path: "/data/uploads"
 max_upload_size: "{{ SYNAPSE_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE or "50M" }}"
 max_image_pixels: "32M"
 dynamic_thumbnails: false
diff --git a/synapse/config/repository.py b/synapse/config/repository.py
index 52849c3256..69d9de5a43 100644
--- a/synapse/config/repository.py
+++ b/synapse/config/repository.py
@@ -206,7 +206,6 @@ class ContentRepositoryConfig(Config):
 
     def generate_config_section(self, data_dir_path, **kwargs):
         media_store = os.path.join(data_dir_path, "media_store")
-        uploads_path = os.path.join(data_dir_path, "uploads")
 
         formatted_thumbnail_sizes = "".join(
             THUMBNAIL_SIZE_YAML % s for s in DEFAULT_THUMBNAIL_SIZES
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 4fb5098550..be80b13760 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ def default_config(name, parse=False):
         "server_name": name,
         "send_federation": False,
         "media_store_path": "media",
-        "uploads_path": "uploads",
         # the test signing key is just an arbitrary ed25519 key to keep the config
         # parser happy
         "signing_key": "ed25519 a_lPym qvioDNmfExFBRPgdTU+wtFYKq4JfwFRv7sYVgWvmgJg",