diff --git a/course/upgrade.txt b/course/upgrade.txt
index c6f4b9a02b0..9de0270ddc1 100644
--- a/course/upgrade.txt
+++ b/course/upgrade.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ information provided here is intended especially for developers.
 * The function duplicate_module() now has two new optional parameters:
   - $sectionid to specify section the duplicated course module is placed in
   - $changename to disable changing the name of the course module using the 'duplicatedmodule' lang string
+* The method `make_categories_options`, deprecated since 3.10, has been removed
 
 === 4.1 ===
 * The function course_modchooser() has been finally deprecated and can not be used anymore. Please use
diff --git a/lib/deprecatedlib.php b/lib/deprecatedlib.php
index 16e4abe1c70..acdaabba0b1 100644
--- a/lib/deprecatedlib.php
+++ b/lib/deprecatedlib.php
@@ -3209,19 +3209,11 @@ function plagiarism_get_form_elements_module() {
 
 
 /**
- * Returns the list of full course categories to be used in html_writer::select()
- *
- * Calls {@see core_course_category::make_categories_list()} to build the list.
- *
  * @deprecated since Moodle 3.10
- * @todo This will be finally removed for Moodle 4.2 as part of MDL-69124.
- * @return array array mapping course category id to the display name
  */
 function make_categories_options() {
-    $deprecatedtext = __FUNCTION__ . '() is deprecated. Please use \core_course_category::make_categories_list() instead.';
-    debugging($deprecatedtext, DEBUG_DEVELOPER);
-
-    return core_course_category::make_categories_list('', 0, ' / ');
+    throw new coding_exception(__FUNCTION__ . '() has been removed. ' .
+        'Please use \core_course_category::make_categories_list() instead.');
 }
 
 /**