diff --git a/modules/services/mako.nix b/modules/services/mako.nix
index 8bf6a8fc3..49be40034 100644
--- a/modules/services/mako.nix
+++ b/modules/services/mako.nix
@@ -33,10 +33,13 @@ let
 
       sectionLines = lib.concatStringsSep "\n" (lib.mapAttrsToList formatSection sectionSettings);
     in
-    if sectionSettings != { } then globalLines + "\n" + sectionLines + "\n" else globalLines + "\n";
+    lib.mkMerge [
+      globalLines
+      (lib.mkIf (sectionSettings != { }) sectionLines)
+      (lib.mkIf (cfg.extraConfig != "") ("\n" + cfg.extraConfig))
+    ];
 
   iniFormat = pkgs.formats.ini { };
-  iniType = iniFormat.type;
   iniAtomType = iniFormat.lib.types.atom;
 in
 {
@@ -82,9 +85,13 @@ in
       (lib.mkRemovedOptionModule [
         "services"
         "mako"
-        "extraConfig"
-      ] "Use services.mako.settings instead.")
-      (lib.mkRenamedOptionModule [ "services" "mako" "criterias" ] [ "services" "mako" "criteria" ])
+        "criterias"
+      ] "Use services.mako.settings instead. If order is important, use `services.mako.extraConfig`.")
+      (lib.mkRemovedOptionModule [
+        "services"
+        "mako"
+        "criteria"
+      ] "Use services.mako.settings instead. If order is important, use `services.mako.extraConfig`.")
     ]
     ++ lib.hm.deprecations.mkSettingsRenamedOptionModules basePath (basePath ++ [ "settings" ]) {
       transform = lib.hm.strings.toKebabCase;
@@ -130,41 +137,6 @@ in
         <https://github.com/emersion/mako/blob/master/doc/mako.5.scd>.
       '';
     };
-    criteria = mkOption {
-      visible = false;
-      type = iniType;
-      default = { };
-      example = {
-        "actionable=true" = {
-          anchor = "top-left";
-        };
-
-        "app-name=Google\\ Chrome" = {
-          max-visible = "5";
-        };
-
-        "field1=value field2=value" = {
-          text-alignment = "left";
-        };
-      };
-      description = ''
-        Criteria for mako's config. All the details can be found in the
-        CRITERIA section in the official documentation.
-
-        *Deprecated*: Use `settings` with nested attributes instead. For example:
-        ```nix
-        settings = {
-          # Global settings
-          anchor = "top-right";
-
-          # Criteria sections
-          "actionable=true" = {
-            anchor = "top-left";
-          };
-        };
-        ```
-      '';
-    };
     extraConfig = mkOption {
       default = "";
       type = lib.types.lines;
@@ -172,7 +144,7 @@ in
         [urgency=low]
         border-color=#b8bb26
       '';
-      description = "Additional configuration.";
+      description = "Additional configuration lines to inject directly into the generated config file.";
     };
   };
 
@@ -181,44 +153,13 @@ in
       (lib.hm.assertions.assertPlatform "services.mako" pkgs lib.platforms.linux)
     ];
 
-    warnings = lib.optional (cfg.criteria != { }) ''
-      The option `services.mako.criteria` is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
-      Please use `services.mako.settings` with nested attributes instead.
-
-      For example, instead of:
-        criteria = {
-          "actionable=true" = {
-            anchor = "top-left";
-          };
-        };
-
-      Use:
-        settings = {
-          # Global settings here...
-
-          # Criteria sections
-          "actionable=true" = {
-            anchor = "top-left";
-          };
-        };
-    '';
-
     home.packages = [ cfg.package ];
 
     dbus.packages = [ cfg.package ];
 
-    xdg.configFile."mako/config" =
-      mkIf (cfg.settings != { } || cfg.criteria != { } || cfg.extraConfig != "")
-        {
-          onChange = "${cfg.package}/bin/makoctl reload || true";
-          text =
-            let
-              # Merge settings and criteria into a single attribute set
-              # where settings are at the top level and criteria are nested attributes
-              mergedConfig = cfg.settings // cfg.criteria;
-              generatedConfig = generateConfig mergedConfig;
-            in
-            if cfg.extraConfig != "" then generatedConfig + cfg.extraConfig + "\n" else generatedConfig;
-        };
+    xdg.configFile."mako/config" = mkIf (cfg.settings != { } || cfg.extraConfig != "") {
+      onChange = "${cfg.package}/bin/makoctl reload || true";
+      text = generateConfig cfg.settings;
+    };
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/mako/default.nix b/tests/modules/services/mako/default.nix
index 30940a679..eab99cc5a 100644
--- a/tests/modules/services/mako/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/services/mako/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {
   mako-example-config = ./example-config.nix;
-  mako-deprecated-criteria = ./deprecated-criteria.nix;
   mako-renamed-options = ./renamed-options.nix;
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/mako/deprecated-criteria.nix b/tests/modules/services/mako/deprecated-criteria.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 57d57d4dd..000000000
--- a/tests/modules/services/mako/deprecated-criteria.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-{
-  services.mako = {
-    enable = true;
-    # Global settings
-    settings = {
-      actions = true;
-      anchor = "top-right";
-      background-color = "#000000";
-      border-color = "#FFFFFF";
-      border-radius = 0;
-      default-timeout = 0;
-      font = "monospace 10";
-      height = 100;
-      width = 300;
-      icons = true;
-      ignore-timeout = false;
-      layer = "top";
-      margin = 10;
-      markup = true;
-    };
-
-    # Using deprecated criteria option
-    criteria = {
-      "actionable=true" = {
-        anchor = "top-left";
-      };
-      "app-name=Google\\ Chrome" = {
-        max-visible = 5;
-      };
-      "field1=value field2=value" = {
-        text-alignment = "left";
-      };
-    };
-  };
-
-  test.asserts.warnings.expected = [
-    ''
-      The option `services.mako.criteria` is deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
-      Please use `services.mako.settings` with nested attributes instead.
-
-      For example, instead of:
-        criteria = {
-          "actionable=true" = {
-            anchor = "top-left";
-          };
-        };
-
-      Use:
-        settings = {
-          # Global settings here...
-
-          # Criteria sections
-          "actionable=true" = {
-            anchor = "top-left";
-          };
-        };
-    ''
-  ];
-
-  nmt.script = ''
-    assertFileExists home-files/.config/mako/config
-    assertFileContent home-files/.config/mako/config \
-    ${./config}
-  '';
-}
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/mako/renamed-options-config b/tests/modules/services/mako/renamed-options-config
index 1a5481834..215cce6af 100644
--- a/tests/modules/services/mako/renamed-options-config
+++ b/tests/modules/services/mako/renamed-options-config
@@ -24,4 +24,4 @@ padding=5,10
 progress-color=#4C7899
 sort=-time
 text-color=#FFFFFF
-width=300
+width=300
\ No newline at end of file