diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
index e081142ac..e11a09efb 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter.go
@@ -186,10 +186,10 @@ func (l *Linter) lintContainerDeprecations(config *WorkflowConfig, c *types.Cont
 		})
 	}
 
-	if c.Secrets.LegacyFormat {
+	if len(c.Secrets.Secrets) != 0 {
 		err = multierr.Append(err, &errorTypes.PipelineError{
 			Type:    errorTypes.PipelineErrorTypeDeprecation,
-			Message: "Alternative names syntax for `secrets` is deprecated, use list syntax or `from_secret` instead",
+			Message: "Secrets are deprecated, use environment with from_secret",
 			Data: errors.DeprecationErrorData{
 				File:  config.File,
 				Field: fmt.Sprintf("%s.%s.secrets", field, c.Name),
diff --git a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter_test.go b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter_test.go
index 63c5be485..5859b9c2b 100644
--- a/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter_test.go
+++ b/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/linter_test.go
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func TestLintErrors(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			from: "steps: { build: { image: golang, secrets: [ { source: mysql_username, target: mysql_username } ] } }",
-			want: "Alternative names syntax for `secrets` is deprecated, use list syntax or `from_secret` instead",
+			want: "Secrets are deprecated, use environment with from_secret",
 		},
 	}