diff --git a/docs/sources/clients/promtail/configuration.md b/docs/sources/clients/promtail/configuration.md
index 77db37c970f62..a282f070dd31b 100644
--- a/docs/sources/clients/promtail/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/sources/clients/promtail/configuration.md
@@ -259,12 +259,12 @@ backoff_config:
 # Use map like {"foo": "bar"} to add a label foo with
 # value bar.
 # These can also be specified from command line:
-# -client.external-labels=k1=v1,k2=v2 
+# -client.external-labels=k1=v1,k2=v2
 # (or --client.external-labels depending on your OS)
-# labels supplied by the command line are applied 
+# labels supplied by the command line are applied
 # to all clients configured in the `clients` section.
 # NOTE: values defined in the config file will replace values
-# defined on the command line for a given client if the 
+# defined on the command line for a given client if the
 # label keys are the same.
 external_labels:
   [ <labelname>: <labelvalue> ... ]
@@ -299,10 +299,6 @@ of targets using a specified discovery method:
 # Name to identify this scrape config in the Promtail UI.
 job_name: <string>
 
-# Describes how to parse log lines. Supported values [cri docker raw]
-# Deprecated in favor of pipeline_stages using the cri or docker stages.
-[entry_parser: <string> | default = "docker"]
-
 # Describes how to transform logs from targets.
 [pipeline_stages: <pipeline_stages>]
 
diff --git a/docs/sources/design-documents/labels.md b/docs/sources/design-documents/labels.md
index f1854d5a4ccc1..052af82fa00e8 100644
--- a/docs/sources/design-documents/labels.md
+++ b/docs/sources/design-documents/labels.md
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ Our pipelined config might look like this:
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - json:
         timestamp:
           source: time
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ There is an alternative configuration that could be used here to accomplish the
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - json:
         timestamp:
           source: time
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ For example, the config above might be simplified to:
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - docker:
 ```
 
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ or
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - cri:
 ```
 
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ Which could still easily be extended to extract additional labels:
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - docker:
     - regex:
         expr: '.*level=(?P<level>[a-zA-Z]+).*'
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ An even further simplification would be to attempt to autodetect the log format,
 ```yaml
 scrape_configs:
 - job_name: system
-  entry_parsers:
+  pipeline_stages:
     - auto:
 ```
 
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser.go b/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 58f33675da996..0000000000000
--- a/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,104 +0,0 @@
-package api
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
-	"time"
-
-	json "github.com/json-iterator/go"
-	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
-)
-
-// EntryParser describes how to parse log lines.
-type EntryParser int
-
-// Different supported EntryParsers.
-const (
-	Docker EntryParser = iota
-	Raw
-	CRI
-)
-
-var (
-	criPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^(?s)(?P<time>\S+?) (?P<stream>stdout|stderr) (?P<flags>\S+?) (?P<content>.*)$`)
-)
-
-// String returns a string representation of the EntryParser.
-func (e EntryParser) String() string {
-	switch e {
-	case CRI:
-		return "cri"
-	case Docker:
-		return "docker"
-	case Raw:
-		return "raw"
-	default:
-		panic(e)
-	}
-}
-
-// Set implements flag.Value.
-func (e *EntryParser) Set(s string) error {
-	switch strings.ToLower(s) {
-	case "cri":
-		*e = CRI
-		return nil
-	case "docker":
-		*e = Docker
-		return nil
-	case "raw":
-		*e = Raw
-		return nil
-	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("unrecognised EntryParser: %v", s)
-	}
-}
-
-// UnmarshalYAML implements yaml.Unmarshaler.
-func (e *EntryParser) UnmarshalYAML(unmarshal func(interface{}) error) error {
-	var s string
-	if err := unmarshal(&s); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	return e.Set(s)
-}
-
-// Wrap implements EntryMiddleware.
-func (e EntryParser) Wrap(next EntryHandler) EntryHandler {
-	switch e {
-	case CRI:
-		return EntryHandlerFunc(func(labels model.LabelSet, _ time.Time, line string) error {
-			parts := criPattern.FindStringSubmatch(line)
-			if parts == nil || len(parts) < 5 {
-				return fmt.Errorf("Line did not match the CRI log format: '%s'", line)
-			}
-
-			timestamp, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, parts[1])
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("CRI timestamp '%s' does not match RFC3339Nano", parts[1])
-			}
-
-			labels = labels.Merge(model.LabelSet{"stream": model.LabelValue(parts[2])})
-			return next.Handle(labels, timestamp, parts[4])
-		})
-	case Docker:
-		return EntryHandlerFunc(func(labels model.LabelSet, _ time.Time, line string) error {
-			// Docker-style json object per line.
-			var entry struct {
-				Log    string
-				Stream string
-				Time   time.Time
-			}
-			if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(line), &entry); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			labels = labels.Merge(model.LabelSet{"stream": model.LabelValue(entry.Stream)})
-			return next.Handle(labels, entry.Time, entry.Log)
-		})
-	case Raw:
-		return next
-	default:
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("unrecognised EntryParser: %s", e))
-	}
-}
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser_test.go b/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index d88d41a17712d..0000000000000
--- a/pkg/promtail/api/entry_parser_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-package api
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/prometheus/common/model"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-)
-
-var (
-	TestTimeStr = "2019-01-01T01:00:00.000000001Z"
-	TestTime, _ = time.Parse(time.RFC3339Nano, TestTimeStr)
-)
-
-type Entry struct {
-	Time   time.Time
-	Log    string
-	Labels model.LabelSet
-}
-
-func NewEntry(time time.Time, message string, stream string) Entry {
-	return Entry{time, message, model.LabelSet{"stream": model.LabelValue(stream)}}
-}
-
-type TestCase struct {
-	Line          string // input
-	ExpectedError bool
-	Expected      Entry
-}
-
-var criTestCases = []TestCase{
-	{"", true, Entry{}},
-	{TestTimeStr, true, Entry{}},
-	{TestTimeStr + " stdout", true, Entry{}},
-	{TestTimeStr + " invalid F message", true, Entry{}},
-	{"2019-01-01 01:00:00.000000001 stdout F message", true, Entry{}},
-	{" " + TestTimeStr + " stdout F message", true, Entry{}},
-	{TestTimeStr + " stdout F ", false, NewEntry(TestTime, "", "stdout")},
-	{TestTimeStr + " stdout F message", false, NewEntry(TestTime, "message", "stdout")},
-	{TestTimeStr + " stderr P message", false, NewEntry(TestTime, "message", "stderr")},
-	{TestTimeStr + " stderr P message1\nmessage2", false, NewEntry(TestTime, "message1\nmessage2", "stderr")},
-}
-
-func TestCRI(t *testing.T) {
-	runTestCases(CRI, criTestCases, t)
-}
-
-var dockerTestCases = []TestCase{
-	{
-		Line:          "{{\"log\":\"bad json, should fail to parse\\n\",\"stream\":\"stderr\",\"time\":\"2019-03-04T21:37:44.789508817Z\"}",
-		ExpectedError: true,
-		Expected:      Entry{},
-	},
-	{
-		Line:          "{\"log\":\"some silly log message\\n\",\"stream\":\"stderr\",\"time\":\"2019-03-04T21:37:44.789508817Z\"}",
-		ExpectedError: false,
-		Expected: NewEntry(time.Date(2019, 03, 04, 21, 37, 44, 789508817, time.UTC),
-			"some silly log message\n",
-			"stderr"),
-	},
-	{
-		Line:          "{\"log\":\"10.15.0.5 - - [04/Mar/2019:21:37:44 +0000] \\\"POST /api/prom/push HTTP/1.1\\\" 200 0 \\\"\\\" \\\"Go-http-client/1.1\\\"\\n\",\"stream\":\"stdout\",\"time\":\"2019-03-04T21:37:44.790195228Z\"}",
-		ExpectedError: false,
-		Expected: NewEntry(time.Date(2019, 03, 04, 21, 37, 44, 790195228, time.UTC),
-			"10.15.0.5 - - [04/Mar/2019:21:37:44 +0000] \"POST /api/prom/push HTTP/1.1\" 200 0 \"\" \"Go-http-client/1.1\"\n",
-			"stdout"),
-	},
-}
-
-func TestDocker(t *testing.T) {
-	runTestCases(Docker, dockerTestCases, t)
-}
-
-func runTestCases(parser EntryParser, testCases []TestCase, t *testing.T) {
-	for i, tc := range testCases {
-		client := &TestClient{
-			Entries: make([]Entry, 0),
-		}
-
-		handler := parser.Wrap(client)
-		err := handler.Handle(model.LabelSet{}, time.Now(), tc.Line)
-
-		if err != nil && tc.ExpectedError {
-			continue
-		} else if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal("Unexpected error for test case", i, "with entry", tc.Line, "\nerror:", err)
-		}
-
-		require.Equal(t, 1, len(client.Entries), "Handler did not receive the correct number of Entries for test case %d", i)
-		entry := client.Entries[0]
-		assert.Equal(t, tc.Expected.Time, entry.Time, "Time error for test case %d, with entry %s", i, tc.Line)
-		assert.Equal(t, tc.Expected.Log, entry.Log, "Log entry error for test case %d, with entry %s", i, tc.Line)
-		assert.True(t, tc.Expected.Labels.Equal(entry.Labels), "Label error for test case %d, labels did not match; expected: %s, found %s", i, tc.Expected.Labels, entry.Labels)
-	}
-}
-
-type TestClient struct {
-	Entries []Entry
-}
-
-func (c *TestClient) Handle(ls model.LabelSet, t time.Time, s string) error {
-	c.Entries = append(c.Entries, Entry{t, s, ls})
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/promtail_test.go b/pkg/promtail/promtail_test.go
index 901a48739eece..7b8d007156080 100644
--- a/pkg/promtail/promtail_test.go
+++ b/pkg/promtail/promtail_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/logentry/stages"
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/logproto"
-	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/promtail/api"
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/promtail/client"
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/promtail/config"
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/promtail/positions"
@@ -603,7 +602,6 @@ func buildTestConfig(t *testing.T, positionsFileName string, logDirName string)
 
 	scrapeConfig := scrapeconfig.Config{
 		JobName:                "",
-		EntryParser:            api.Raw,
 		PipelineStages:         pipeline,
 		RelabelConfigs:         nil,
 		ServiceDiscoveryConfig: serviceConfig,
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig.go b/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig.go
index 113cc30545375..6063af79be65a 100644
--- a/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig.go
@@ -12,13 +12,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/pkg/relabel"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/logentry/stages"
-	"github.com/grafana/loki/pkg/promtail/api"
 )
 
 // Config describes a job to scrape.
 type Config struct {
 	JobName                string                           `yaml:"job_name,omitempty"`
-	EntryParser            api.EntryParser                  `yaml:"entry_parser"`
 	PipelineStages         stages.PipelineStages            `yaml:"pipeline_stages,omitempty"`
 	JournalConfig          *JournalTargetConfig             `yaml:"journal,omitempty"`
 	SyslogConfig           *SyslogTargetConfig              `yaml:"syslog,omitempty"`
@@ -82,7 +80,11 @@ type PushTargetConfig struct {
 
 // DefaultScrapeConfig is the default Config.
 var DefaultScrapeConfig = Config{
-	EntryParser: api.Docker,
+	PipelineStages: []interface{}{
+		map[interface{}]interface{}{
+			stages.StageTypeDocker: nil,
+		},
+	},
 }
 
 // HasServiceDiscoveryConfig checks to see if the service discovery used for
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig_test.go b/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig_test.go
index 0f83f865a50c1..bd557c534e365 100644
--- a/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig_test.go
+++ b/pkg/promtail/scrapeconfig/scrapeconfig_test.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ var testYaml = `
 pipeline_stages:
   - regex:
       expr: "./*"
-  - json: 
+  - json:
       timestamp:
         source: time
         format: RFC3339
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ pipeline_stages:
         stream:
           source: json_key_name.json_sub_key_name
       output:
-        source: log     
+        source: log
 job_name: kubernetes-pods-name
 kubernetes_sd_configs:
 - role: pod
diff --git a/pkg/promtail/targets/file/filetargetmanager.go b/pkg/promtail/targets/file/filetargetmanager.go
index e5ce2c66cf474..615e0f161bf53 100644
--- a/pkg/promtail/targets/file/filetargetmanager.go
+++ b/pkg/promtail/targets/file/filetargetmanager.go
@@ -87,30 +87,6 @@ func NewFileTargetManager(
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		// Backwards compatibility with old EntryParser config
-		if pipeline.Size() == 0 {
-			switch cfg.EntryParser {
-			case api.CRI:
-				level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "WARNING!!! entry_parser config is deprecated, please change to pipeline_stages")
-				cri, err := stages.NewCRI(logger, registerer)
-				if err != nil {
-					return nil, err
-				}
-				pipeline.AddStage(cri)
-			case api.Docker:
-				level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "WARNING!!! entry_parser config is deprecated, please change to pipeline_stages")
-				docker, err := stages.NewDocker(logger, registerer)
-				if err != nil {
-					return nil, err
-				}
-				pipeline.AddStage(docker)
-			case api.Raw:
-				level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "WARNING!!! entry_parser config is deprecated, please change to pipeline_stages")
-			default:
-
-			}
-		}
-
 		// Add Source value to the static config target groups for unique identification
 		// within scrape pool. Also, default target label to localhost if target is not
 		// defined in promtail config.