diff --git a/swh/storage/cli.py b/swh/storage/cli.py
--- a/swh/storage/cli.py
+++ b/swh/storage/cli.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 import functools
 import logging
 import os
-import warnings
 
 import click
 
@@ -14,7 +13,7 @@
 from swh.core.cli import CONTEXT_SETTINGS
 from swh.journal.client import get_journal_client
 from swh.storage import get_storage
-from swh.storage.api.server import load_and_check_config, app
+from swh.storage.api.server import app
 
 try:
     from systemd.daemon import notify
@@ -43,13 +42,14 @@
     else:
         conf = {}
 
-    ctx.ensure_object(dict)
+    if "storage" not in conf:
+        ctx.fail("You must have a storage configured in your config file.")
 
+    ctx.ensure_object(dict)
     ctx.obj["config"] = conf
 
 
 @storage.command(name="rpc-serve")
-@click.argument("config-path", default=None, required=False)
 @click.option(
     "--host",
     default="0.0.0.0",
@@ -71,25 +71,14 @@
     help="Indicates if the server should run in debug mode",
 )
 @click.pass_context
-def serve(ctx, config_path, host, port, debug):
+def serve(ctx, host, port, debug):
     """Software Heritage Storage RPC server.
 
     Do NOT use this in a production environment.
     """
     if "log_level" in ctx.obj:
         logging.getLogger("werkzeug").setLevel(ctx.obj["log_level"])
-    if config_path:
-        # for bw compat
-        warnings.warn(
-            "The `config_path` argument of the `swh storage rpc-server` is now "
-            "deprecated. Please use the --config option of `swh storage` instead.",
-            DeprecationWarning,
-        )
-        api_cfg = load_and_check_config(config_path, type="any")
-        app.config.update(api_cfg)
-    else:
-        app.config.update(ctx.obj["config"])
-
+    app.config.update(ctx.obj["config"])
     app.run(host, port=int(port), debug=bool(debug))
 
 
@@ -161,10 +150,9 @@
     from swh.storage.replay import process_replay_objects
 
     conf = ctx.obj["config"]
-    try:
-        storage = get_storage(**conf.pop("storage"))
-    except KeyError:
-        ctx.fail("You must have a storage configured in your config file.")
+
+    storage = get_storage(**conf.pop("storage"))
+
     client_cfg = conf.pop("journal_client")
     if stop_after_objects:
         client_cfg["stop_after_objects"] = stop_after_objects