diff --git a/doc/man-sections/client-options.rst b/doc/man-sections/client-options.rst
index fe9ffa6abbc..3616ed7f3f8 100644
--- a/doc/man-sections/client-options.rst
+++ b/doc/man-sections/client-options.rst
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ configuration.
 
      dns search-domains domain [domain ...]
      dns server n address addr[:port] [addr[:port] ...]
-     dns server n resolve-domains|exclude-domains domain [domain ...]
+     dns server n resolve-domains domain [domain ...]
      dns server n dnssec yes|optional|no
      dns server n transport DoH|DoT|plain
      dns server n sni server-name
@@ -191,14 +191,10 @@ configuration.
   Optionally a port can be appended after a colon. IPv6 addresses need to
   be enclosed in brackets if a port is appended.
 
-  The ``resolve-domains`` and ``exclude-domains`` options take one or
-  more DNS domains which are explicitly resolved or explicitly not resolved
-  by a server. Only one of the options can be configured for a server.
-  ``resolve-domains`` is used to define a split-dns setup, where only
-  given domains are resolved by a server. ``exclude-domains`` is used to
-  define domains which will never be resolved by a server (e.g. domains
-  which can only be resolved locally). Systems which do not support fine
-  grained DNS domain configuration, will ignore these settings.
+  The ``resolve-domains`` option takes one or more DNS domains used to define
+  a split-dns or dns-routing setup, where only the given domains are resolved
+  by the server. Systems which do not support fine grained DNS domain
+  configuration will ignore this setting.
 
   The ``dnssec`` option is used to configure validation of DNSSEC records.
   While the exact semantics may differ for resolvers on different systems,
diff --git a/doc/man-sections/script-options.rst b/doc/man-sections/script-options.rst
index d73231edc41..8c0be0cde03 100644
--- a/doc/man-sections/script-options.rst
+++ b/doc/man-sections/script-options.rst
@@ -663,7 +663,6 @@ instances.
        dns_server_{n}_address_{m}
        dns_server_{n}_port_{m}
        dns_server_{n}_resolve_domain_{m}
-       dns_server_{n}_exclude_domain_{m}
        dns_server_{n}_dnssec
        dns_server_{n}_transport
        dns_server_{n}_sni
diff --git a/src/openvpn/dns.c b/src/openvpn/dns.c
index b7808db14ea..51fca2fbfe1 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/dns.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/dns.c
@@ -402,11 +402,9 @@ setenv_dns_options(const struct dns_options *o, struct env_set *es)
 
         if (s->domains)
         {
-            const char *format = s->domain_type == DNS_RESOLVE_DOMAINS ?
-                                 "dns_server_%d_resolve_domain_%d" : "dns_server_%d_exclude_domain_%d";
             for (j = 1, d = s->domains; d != NULL; j++, d = d->next)
             {
-                setenv_dns_option(es, format, i, j, d->name);
+                setenv_dns_option(es, "dns_server_%d_resolve_domain_%d", i, j, d->name);
             }
         }
 
@@ -484,14 +482,7 @@ show_dns_options(const struct dns_options *o)
         struct dns_domain *domain = server->domains;
         if (domain)
         {
-            if (server->domain_type == DNS_RESOLVE_DOMAINS)
-            {
-                msg(D_SHOW_PARMS, "    resolve domains:");
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                msg(D_SHOW_PARMS, "    exclude domains:");
-            }
+            msg(D_SHOW_PARMS, "    resolve domains:");
             while (domain)
             {
                 msg(D_SHOW_PARMS, "      %s", domain->name);
diff --git a/src/openvpn/dns.h b/src/openvpn/dns.h
index 162dec12ef1..e4978579432 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/dns.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/dns.h
@@ -27,12 +27,6 @@
 #include "buffer.h"
 #include "env_set.h"
 
-enum dns_domain_type {
-    DNS_DOMAINS_UNSET,
-    DNS_RESOLVE_DOMAINS,
-    DNS_EXCLUDE_DOMAINS
-};
-
 enum dns_security {
     DNS_SECURITY_UNSET,
     DNS_SECURITY_NO,
@@ -68,7 +62,6 @@ struct dns_server {
     size_t addr_count;
     struct dns_server_addr addr[8];
     struct dns_domain *domains;
-    enum dns_domain_type domain_type;
     enum dns_security dnssec;
     enum dns_server_transport transport;
     const char *sni;
diff --git a/src/openvpn/options.c b/src/openvpn/options.c
index 2c51efa6bc3..fc339ae1bad 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/options.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/options.c
@@ -514,7 +514,6 @@ static const char usage_message[] =
     "                  Valid options are :\n"
     "                  address <addr[:port]> [addr[:port] ...] : server addresses 4/6\n"
     "                  resolve-domains <domain> [domain ...] : split domains\n"
-    "                  exclude-domains <domain> [domain ...] : domains not to resolve\n"
     "                  dnssec <yes|no|optional> : option to use DNSSEC\n"
     "                  type <DoH|DoT> : query server over HTTPS / TLS\n"
     "                  sni <domain> : DNS server name indication\n"
@@ -8042,22 +8041,6 @@ add_option(struct options *options,
             }
             else if (streq(p[3], "resolve-domains"))
             {
-                if (server->domain_type == DNS_EXCLUDE_DOMAINS)
-                {
-                    msg(msglevel, "--dns server %ld: cannot use resolve-domains and exclude-domains", priority);
-                    goto err;
-                }
-                server->domain_type = DNS_RESOLVE_DOMAINS;
-                dns_domain_list_append(&server->domains, &p[4], &options->dns_options.gc);
-            }
-            else if (streq(p[3], "exclude-domains"))
-            {
-                if (server->domain_type == DNS_RESOLVE_DOMAINS)
-                {
-                    msg(msglevel, "--dns server %ld: cannot use exclude-domains and resolve-domains", priority);
-                    goto err;
-                }
-                server->domain_type = DNS_EXCLUDE_DOMAINS;
                 dns_domain_list_append(&server->domains, &p[4], &options->dns_options.gc);
             }
             else if (streq(p[3], "dnssec") && !p[5])