diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md
index cfb123a5..2d8b20e2 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide.md
@@ -52,49 +52,30 @@ resources and resource templates. The matches can be added to the config as pair
 
 ##### Correlation by group of fields (apiVersion, kind, namespace and name)
 
-When there is no manual match for a CR the command will try to match a template
-for the resource by looking at the 4-tuple: apiVersion, kind, namespace and
-name.
+When there is no manual match for a CR the command will try to match a template for the resource by looking at the
+4-tuple: apiVersion, kind, namespace and name . The Correlation is based on which fields in the templates that are not
+user-variable. Templates get matched to resources based on all the features from the 4-tuple that are declared fixed (
+not user-variable) in the templates.
 
-For each resource the group correlation will be finding a template which
-matches the largest number of fields from this group: apiVersion, kind,
-namespace, name.  This is done in the following order, with the first match
-taken:
+For example a template with a fixed namespace, kind, name and templated (user-variable) apiVersion will only be a
+potential match by the kind-namespace-name criterion.
+
+For each resource the group correlation will be done by the next logic:
 
 1. Exact match of apiVersion-kind-namespace-name
-1. Exact Match in 3/4 fields from apiVersion, kind, namespace, name. (meaning
-   one of: kind-namespace-name or apiVersion-kind-name or
-   apiVersion-kind-namespace)
-1. Exact Match in 2/4 fields from apiVersion, kind, namespace, name. (meaning
-   one of: kind-namespace or kind-name or apiVersion-kind)
+    1. If there is a result in the reference, comparison will be done
+1. Exact Match in 3/4 fields from apiVersion, kind, namespace, name. ( meaning exact match in: kind-namespace-name or
+   apiVersion-kind-name or apiVersion-kind-namespace)
+    1. If there is a result in the reference, comparison will be done
+1. Exact Match in 2/4 fields from apiVersion, kind, namespace, name. ( meaning exact match in: kind-namespace or
+   kind-name or apiVersion-kind)
+    1. If there is a result in the reference, comparison will be done
 1. Match kind
+    1. If there is a result in the reference, comparison will be done
 1. No match – comparison cannot be made and the file is flagged as unmatched.
 
-In the event that a single CR matches multiple templates, the diff logic
-assumes that the template with the smallest number of diffs from the given CR
-is the intended template.  This can be overridden by either specifying manual
-matches (see the prior section), or be enabling strict match mode (see the
-following section).
-
-###### Strict match mode
-
-Strict match correlation is based on which fields in the templates that are not
-user-variable. In this mode, templates get matched to resources based on all
-the features from the 4-tuple that are declared fixed (not user-variable) in
-the templates.
-
-For example a template with a fixed namespace, kind, name and templated
-(user-variable) apiVersion will only be a potential match by the
-kind-namespace-name criterion, but would not match a CR with the same kind and
-namespace if the name is different.
-
-To enable strict matching, add the following user config in your diff-config
-(`-c` flag):
-
-```yaml
-correlationSettings:
-   strictMatch: true
-```
+We can phrase this logic in a more general form. Each CR will be correlated to a template with an exact match in the
+largest number of fields from this group:  apiVersion, kind, namespace, name.
 
 ### How it works
 
diff --git a/pkg/compare/compare.go b/pkg/compare/compare.go
index 38089a0b..8925478b 100644
--- a/pkg/compare/compare.go
+++ b/pkg/compare/compare.go
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ func (o *Options) setupCorrelators() error {
 		correlators = append(correlators, manualCorrelator)
 	}
 
-	groupCorrelator, err := NewGroupCorrelator(defaultFieldGroups, o.templates, o.userConfig.CorrelationSettings.StrictMatch)
+	groupCorrelator, err := NewGroupCorrelator(defaultFieldGroups, o.templates)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -387,8 +387,7 @@ func (o *Options) setupOverrideCorrelators() error {
 		correlators = append(correlators, manualOverrideCorrelator)
 	}
 
-	// UserOverrides are never lenient; must match as exactly as possible
-	groupCorrelator, err := NewGroupCorrelator(defaultFieldGroups, o.userOverrides, true)
+	groupCorrelator, err := NewGroupCorrelator(defaultFieldGroups, o.userOverrides)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/compare/compare_test.go b/pkg/compare/compare_test.go
index 7105c086..64e95577 100644
--- a/pkg/compare/compare_test.go
+++ b/pkg/compare/compare_test.go
@@ -422,11 +422,6 @@ func TestCompareRun(t *testing.T) {
 		defaultTest("SomeDiffs").
 			withVerboseOutput().
 			withChecks(defaultChecks.withPrefixedSuffix("withVebosityFlag")),
-		defaultTest("Strict Match"),
-		defaultTest("Strict Match").
-			withUserConfig(userConfigFileName).
-			withSubTestSuffix("Strict Mode On").
-			withChecks(defaultChecks.withPrefixedSuffix("strict_mode_on")),
 		defaultTest("Invalid Resources Are Skipped"),
 		defaultTest("Ref Contains Templates With Function Templates In Same File"),
 		defaultTest("User Override").
diff --git a/pkg/compare/correlator.go b/pkg/compare/correlator.go
index 24ff9620..035a91a4 100644
--- a/pkg/compare/correlator.go
+++ b/pkg/compare/correlator.go
@@ -115,12 +115,11 @@ type GroupCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry] struct {
 // For fieldsGroups =  {{{"metadata", "namespace"}, {"kind"}}, {{"kind"}}} and the following templates: [fixedKindTemplate, fixedNamespaceKindTemplate]
 // the fixedNamespaceKindTemplate will be added to a mapping where the keys are  in the format of `namespace_kind`. The fixedKindTemplate
 // will be added to a mapping where the keys are  in the format of `kind`.
-func NewGroupCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry](fieldGroups [][][]string, objects []T, strict bool) (*GroupCorrelator[T], error) {
+func NewGroupCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry](fieldGroups [][][]string, objects []T) (*GroupCorrelator[T], error) {
 	sort.Slice(fieldGroups, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return len(fieldGroups[i]) >= len(fieldGroups[j])
 	})
 	core := GroupCorrelator[T]{}
-	first := true
 	for _, group := range fieldGroups {
 		fc := FieldCorrelator[T]{Fields: group, hashFunc: createGroupHashFunc(group)}
 		newObjects := fc.ClaimTemplates(objects)
@@ -130,9 +129,7 @@ func NewGroupCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry](fieldGroups [][][]string, objects []
 			continue
 		}
 
-		// Only warn if we find duplicate templates matching on the most-specific FieldCorrelator, or in strict mode
-		fc.warnDupe = first || strict
-		first = false
+		objects = newObjects
 		core.fieldCorrelators = append(core.fieldCorrelators, &fc)
 
 		err := fc.ValidateTemplates()
@@ -140,12 +137,8 @@ func NewGroupCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry](fieldGroups [][][]string, objects []
 			klog.Warning(err)
 		}
 
-		if strict {
-			// In strict mode, only continue to process the objects that we haven't yet matched to a FieldCorrelator
-			objects = newObjects
-			if len(objects) == 0 {
-				break
-			}
+		if len(objects) == 0 {
+			break
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -266,7 +259,6 @@ type FieldCorrelator[T CorrelationEntry] struct {
 	Fields   [][]string
 	hashFunc templateHashFunc
 	objects  map[string][]T
-	warnDupe bool
 }
 
 func (f *FieldCorrelator[T]) ClaimTemplates(templates []T) []T {
@@ -289,10 +281,6 @@ func (f *FieldCorrelator[T]) ClaimTemplates(templates []T) []T {
 }
 
 func (f *FieldCorrelator[T]) ValidateTemplates() error {
-	if !f.warnDupe {
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	errs := make([]error, 0)
 	for _, values := range f.objects {
 		if len(values) > 1 {
diff --git a/pkg/compare/parsing.go b/pkg/compare/parsing.go
index 0cabc07d..3dee9080 100644
--- a/pkg/compare/parsing.go
+++ b/pkg/compare/parsing.go
@@ -96,7 +96,6 @@ type UserConfig struct {
 
 type CorrelationSettings struct {
 	ManualCorrelation ManualCorrelation `json:"manualCorrelation"`
-	StrictMatch       bool              `json:"strictMatch,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type ManualCorrelation struct {
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localerr.golden b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localerr.golden
deleted file mode 100644
index 8053f59d..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localerr.golden
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-
-error code:1
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localout.golden b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localout.golden
deleted file mode 100644
index 55b4ad21..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localout.golden
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-**********************************
-
-Cluster CR: apps/v1_Deployment_kubernetes-dashboard_different
-Reference File: deploymentDashboard.yaml
-Diff Output: diff -u -N TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_kubernetes-dashboard_different TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_kubernetes-dashboard_different
---- TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_kubernetes-dashboard_different	DATE
-+++ TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_kubernetes-dashboard_different	DATE
-@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
- metadata:
-   labels:
-     k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
--  name: kubernetes-dashboard
-+  name: different
-   namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
- spec:
-   replicas: 1
-
-**********************************
-
-Cluster CR: apps/v1_Deployment_changed_changed
-Reference File: deploymentMetrics.yaml
-Diff Output: diff -u -N TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_changed_changed TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_changed_changed
---- TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_changed_changed	DATE
-+++ TEMP/apps-v1_deployment_changed_changed	DATE
-@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
- metadata:
-   labels:
-     k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
--  name: dashboard-metrics-scraper
--  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
-+  name: changed
-+  namespace: changed
- spec:
-   replicas: 1
-   revisionHistoryLimit: 10
-
-**********************************
-
-Summary
-CRs with diffs: 2/2
-No validation issues with the cluster
-No CRs are unmatched to reference CRs
-Metadata Hash: aa4c94f1307788e1da81f57718a9f1364d35d4ff6099fc633724bcf9d051a094
-No patched CRs
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onerr.golden b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onerr.golden
deleted file mode 100644
index 8053f59d..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onerr.golden
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-
-error code:1
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onout.golden b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onout.golden
deleted file mode 100644
index 3f5626db..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/localstrict_mode_onout.golden
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-Summary
-CRs with diffs: 0/0
-CRs in reference missing from the cluster: 2
-ExamplePart:
-  Dashboard:
-    Missing CRs:
-    - deploymentDashboard.yaml
-    - deploymentMetrics.yaml
-No CRs are unmatched to reference CRs
-Metadata Hash: aa4c94f1307788e1da81f57718a9f1364d35d4ff6099fc633724bcf9d051a094
-No patched CRs
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentDashboard.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentDashboard.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 240407e1..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentDashboard.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-kind: Deployment
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-  name: kubernetes-dashboard
-  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 10
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-    spec:
-      securityContext:
-        seccompProfile:
-          type: RuntimeDefault
-      containers:
-        - name: kubernetes-dashboard
-          image: kubernetesui/dashboard:v2.7.0
-          imagePullPolicy: Always
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 8443
-              protocol: TCP
-          args:
-            - --auto-generate-certificates
-            - --namespace=kubernetes-dashboard
-            # Uncomment the following line to manually specify Kubernetes API server Host
-            # If not specified, Dashboard will attempt to auto discover the API server and connect
-            # to it. Uncomment only if the default does not work.
-            # - --apiserver-host=http://my-address:port
-          volumeMounts:
-            - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-              mountPath: /certs
-              # Create on-disk volume to store exec logs
-            - mountPath: /tmp
-              name: tmp-volume
-          livenessProbe:
-            httpGet:
-              scheme: HTTPS
-              path: /
-              port: 8443
-            initialDelaySeconds: 30
-            timeoutSeconds: 30
-          securityContext:
-            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
-            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
-            runAsUser: 1001
-            runAsGroup: 2001
-      volumes:
-        - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-          secret:
-            secretName: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-        - name: tmp-volume
-          emptyDir: { }
-      serviceAccountName: kubernetes-dashboard
-      nodeSelector:
-        "kubernetes.io/os": linux
-      # Comment the following tolerations if Dashboard must not be deployed on master
-      tolerations:
-        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
-          effect: NoSchedule
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentMetrics.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentMetrics.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index dd8da434..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/deploymentMetrics.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-kind: Deployment
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-  name: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 10
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-    spec:
-{{ if .spec.template.spec }}{{ .spec.template.spec | toYaml | indent 6 }}{{ end }}
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/metadata.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/metadata.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7e5042e4..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/reference/metadata.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-parts:
-  - name: ExamplePart
-    components:
-      - name: Dashboard
-        type: Required
-        requiredTemplates:
-          - path: deploymentDashboard.yaml
-          - path: deploymentMetrics.yaml
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/d2.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/d2.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index bbe722a8..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/d2.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-kind: Deployment
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-  name: changed 
-  namespace: changed
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 10
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        k8s-app: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-    spec:
-      securityContext:
-        seccompProfile:
-          type: RuntimeDefault
-      containers:
-        - name: dashboard-metrics-scraper
-          image: kubernetesui/metrics-scraper:v1.0.8
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 8000
-              protocol: TCP
-          livenessProbe:
-            httpGet:
-              scheme: HTTP
-              path: /
-              port: 8000
-            initialDelaySeconds: 30
-            timeoutSeconds: 30
-          volumeMounts:
-            - mountPath: /tmp
-              name: tmp-volume
-          securityContext:
-            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
-            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
-            runAsUser: 1001
-            runAsGroup: 2001
-      serviceAccountName: kubernetes-dashboard
-      nodeSelector:
-        "kubernetes.io/os": linux
-      # Comment the following tolerations if Dashboard must not be deployed on master
-      tolerations:
-        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
-          effect: NoSchedule
-      volumes:
-        - name: tmp-volume
-          emptyDir: { }
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/deploymentDashboard.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/deploymentDashboard.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index fff02139..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/resources/deploymentDashboard.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-kind: Deployment
-apiVersion: apps/v1
-metadata:
-  labels:
-    k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-  name: different
-  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
-spec:
-  replicas: 1
-  revisionHistoryLimit: 10
-  selector:
-    matchLabels:
-      k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-  template:
-    metadata:
-      labels:
-        k8s-app: kubernetes-dashboard
-    spec:
-      securityContext:
-        seccompProfile:
-          type: RuntimeDefault
-      containers:
-        - name: kubernetes-dashboard
-          image: kubernetesui/dashboard:v2.7.0
-          imagePullPolicy: Always
-          ports:
-            - containerPort: 8443
-              protocol: TCP
-          args:
-            - --auto-generate-certificates
-            - --namespace=kubernetes-dashboard
-            # Uncomment the following line to manually specify Kubernetes API server Host
-            # If not specified, Dashboard will attempt to auto discover the API server and connect
-            # to it. Uncomment only if the default does not work.
-            # - --apiserver-host=http://my-address:port
-          volumeMounts:
-            - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-              mountPath: /certs
-              # Create on-disk volume to store exec logs
-            - mountPath: /tmp
-              name: tmp-volume
-          livenessProbe:
-            httpGet:
-              scheme: HTTPS
-              path: /
-              port: 8443
-            initialDelaySeconds: 30
-            timeoutSeconds: 30
-          securityContext:
-            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
-            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
-            runAsUser: 1001
-            runAsGroup: 2001
-      volumes:
-        - name: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-          secret:
-            secretName: kubernetes-dashboard-certs
-        - name: tmp-volume
-          emptyDir: { }
-      serviceAccountName: kubernetes-dashboard
-      nodeSelector:
-        "kubernetes.io/os": linux
-      # Comment the following tolerations if Dashboard must not be deployed on master
-      tolerations:
-        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
-          effect: NoSchedule
diff --git a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/userconfig.yaml b/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/userconfig.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index d3c92e16..00000000
--- a/pkg/compare/testdata/StrictMatch/userconfig.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-correlationSettings:
-  strictMatch: true