diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2cfba94498..623121d766 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -320,6 +320,7 @@ banned-from = [
 "yt_dlp.utils.encodeFilename".msg = "Do not use"
 "yt_dlp.compat.compat_os_name".msg = "Use `os.name` instead."
 "yt_dlp.compat.compat_realpath".msg = "Use `os.path.realpath` instead."
+"yt_dlp.utils.decodeOption".msg = "Do not use"
 
 [tool.autopep8]
 max_line_length = 120
diff --git a/yt_dlp/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
index a5a3368485..c1b2fb1a90 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ from .utils import (
     GeoUtils,
     PlaylistEntries,
     SameFileError,
-    decodeOption,
     download_range_func,
     expand_path,
     float_or_none,
@@ -879,8 +878,8 @@ def parse_options(argv=None):
         'listsubtitles': opts.listsubtitles,
         'subtitlesformat': opts.subtitlesformat,
         'subtitleslangs': opts.subtitleslangs,
-        'matchtitle': decodeOption(opts.matchtitle),
-        'rejecttitle': decodeOption(opts.rejecttitle),
+        'matchtitle': opts.matchtitle,
+        'rejecttitle': opts.rejecttitle,
         'max_downloads': opts.max_downloads,
         'prefer_free_formats': opts.prefer_free_formats,
         'trim_file_name': opts.trim_file_name,