diff --git a/DOCS/tech-overview.txt b/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
index f52601f970..d407b92caa 100644
--- a/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
+++ b/DOCS/tech-overview.txt
@@ -150,8 +150,7 @@ libmpcodecs/:
 
     vf_*.c and vf.c form the video filter chain. They are fed by the video
     decoder, and output the filtered images to the VOs though vf_vo.c. By
-    default, no video filters (except vf_vo) are used, though sometimes
-    vf_sub.c is inserted for rendering subtitles, when the VO can't.
+    default, no video filters (except vf_vo) are used.
 
     ad_*.c and dec_audio.c/ad.c handle audio decoding. The audio filter chain is
     separately in libaf.
diff --git a/libmpcodecs/vf_sub.c b/libmpcodecs/vf_sub.c
index e377d589c5..78f75221cb 100644
--- a/libmpcodecs/vf_sub.c
+++ b/libmpcodecs/vf_sub.c
@@ -49,10 +49,6 @@ static const struct vf_priv_s {
     unsigned int outfmt;
     struct mp_csp_details csp;
 
-    // 1 = auto-added filter: insert only if chain does not support OSD already
-    // 0 = insert always
-    int auto_insert;
-
     struct osd_state *osd;
     struct mp_osd_res dim;
 } vf_priv_dflt = {
@@ -276,21 +272,12 @@ static const unsigned int fmt_list[] = {
 
 static int vf_open(vf_instance_t *vf, char *args)
 {
-    int flags;
     vf->priv->outfmt = vf_match_csp(&vf->next, fmt_list, IMGFMT_YV12);
-    if (vf->priv->outfmt)
-        flags = vf_next_query_format(vf, vf->priv->outfmt);
     if (!vf->priv->outfmt) {
         uninit(vf);
         return 0;
-    } else if (vf->priv->auto_insert && flags & VFCAP_OSD) {
-        uninit(vf);
-        return -1;
     }
 
-    if (vf->priv->auto_insert)
-        mp_msg(MSGT_ASS, MSGL_INFO, "[sub] auto-open\n");
-
     vf->config = config;
     vf->query_format = query_format;
     vf->uninit    = uninit;
@@ -303,7 +290,6 @@ static int vf_open(vf_instance_t *vf, char *args)
 
 #define ST_OFF(f) M_ST_OFF(struct vf_priv_s, f)
 static const m_option_t vf_opts_fields[] = {
-    {"auto", ST_OFF(auto_insert), CONF_TYPE_FLAG, 0, 0, 1, NULL},
     {NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 0, 0, NULL}
 };
 
diff --git a/mplayer.c b/mplayer.c
index de85ec2c33..6963471c0e 100644
--- a/mplayer.c
+++ b/mplayer.c
@@ -2267,38 +2267,6 @@ int reinit_video_chain(struct MPContext *mpctx)
         sh_video->vfilter = vf_open_filter(opts, NULL, "vo", vf_arg);
     }
 
-    if (opts->ass_enabled) {
-        int i;
-        int insert = 1;
-        if (opts->vf_settings)
-            for (i = 0; opts->vf_settings[i].name; ++i)
-                if (strcmp(opts->vf_settings[i].name, "sub") == 0) {
-                    insert = 0;
-                    break;
-                }
-        if (insert) {
-            extern vf_info_t vf_info_sub;
-            const vf_info_t *sub_vfs[] = {
-                &vf_info_sub, NULL
-            };
-            char *vf_arg[] = {
-                "auto", "yes", NULL
-            };
-            int retcode = 0;
-            struct vf_instance *vf_sub = vf_open_plugin_noerr(opts, sub_vfs,
-                                                              sh_video->vfilter,
-                                                              "sub", vf_arg,
-                                                              &retcode);
-            if (vf_sub)
-                sh_video->vfilter = vf_sub;
-            else if (retcode == -1) // vf_sub open() returns -1 VO has OSD
-                mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_V, "[sub] vf_sub not needed\n");
-            else
-                mp_msg(MSGT_CPLAYER, MSGL_ERR,
-                       "sub: cannot add video filter\n");
-        }
-    }
-
     sh_video->vfilter = append_filters(sh_video->vfilter, opts->vf_settings);
 
     struct vf_instance *vf = sh_video->vfilter;