diff --git a/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/completion_options.rs b/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/completion_options.rs
index 97775e177d..2972a9c620 100644
--- a/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/completion_options.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/completion_options.rs
@@ -124,11 +124,7 @@ impl<T> NuMatcher<'_, T> {
                 } else {
                     Cow::Owned(haystack.to_folded_case())
                 };
-                let matches = if self.options.positional {
-                    haystack_folded.starts_with(self.needle.as_str())
-                } else {
-                    haystack_folded.contains(self.needle.as_str())
-                };
+                let matches = haystack_folded.starts_with(self.needle.as_str());
                 if matches {
                     if let Some(item) = item {
                         items.push((haystack.to_string(), item));
@@ -282,7 +278,6 @@ impl std::error::Error for InvalidMatchAlgorithm {}
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct CompletionOptions {
     pub case_sensitive: bool,
-    pub positional: bool,
     pub match_algorithm: MatchAlgorithm,
     pub sort: CompletionSort,
 }
@@ -291,7 +286,6 @@ impl Default for CompletionOptions {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
             case_sensitive: true,
-            positional: true,
             match_algorithm: MatchAlgorithm::Prefix,
             sort: Default::default(),
         }
diff --git a/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/custom_completions.rs b/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/custom_completions.rs
index 191a80b5ee..63a4312ee8 100644
--- a/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/custom_completions.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-cli/src/completions/custom_completions.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::completions::{
-    completer::map_value_completions, Completer, CompletionOptions, SemanticSuggestion,
+    completer::map_value_completions, Completer, CompletionOptions, MatchAlgorithm,
+    SemanticSuggestion,
 };
 use nu_engine::eval_call;
 use nu_protocol::{
@@ -102,18 +103,22 @@ impl<T: Completer> Completer for CustomCompletion<T> {
                         {
                             completion_options.case_sensitive = case_sensitive;
                         }
-                        if let Some(positional) =
-                            options.get("positional").and_then(|val| val.as_bool().ok())
-                        {
-                            log::warn!("Use of the positional option is deprecated. Use the substring match algorithm instead.");
-                            completion_options.positional = positional;
-                        }
                         if let Some(algorithm) = options
                             .get("completion_algorithm")
                             .and_then(|option| option.coerce_string().ok())
                             .and_then(|option| option.try_into().ok())
                         {
                             completion_options.match_algorithm = algorithm;
+                            if let Some(positional) =
+                                options.get("positional").and_then(|val| val.as_bool().ok())
+                            {
+                                if !positional
+                                    && completion_options.match_algorithm == MatchAlgorithm::Prefix
+                                {
+                                    log::warn!("Use of the positional option is deprecated. Use the substring match algorithm instead.");
+                                    completion_options.match_algorithm = MatchAlgorithm::Substring
+                                }
+                            }
                         }
                     }
 
diff --git a/crates/nu-cli/tests/completions/mod.rs b/crates/nu-cli/tests/completions/mod.rs
index 9792f2b19b..eb8de0778c 100644
--- a/crates/nu-cli/tests/completions/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-cli/tests/completions/mod.rs
@@ -228,8 +228,7 @@ fn customcompletions_override_options() {
     let mut completer = custom_completer_with_options(
         r#"$env.config.completions.algorithm = "fuzzy"
            $env.config.completions.case_sensitive = false"#,
-        r#"completion_algorithm: "prefix",
-           positional: false,
+        r#"completion_algorithm: "substring",
            case_sensitive: true,
            sort: true"#,
         &["Foo Abcdef", "Abcdef", "Acd Bar"],