diff --git a/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py b/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
index eb2e5211aa..9b58d80395 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -267,7 +267,6 @@ class YoutubeDL:
     outtmpl_na_placeholder: Placeholder for unavailable meta fields.
     restrictfilenames: Do not allow "&" and spaces in file names
     trim_file_name:    Limit length of filename (extension excluded)
-    max_file_name:     Limit length of filename (extension included)
     filesystem_encoding: Encoding to use when calculating filename length in bytes
     windowsfilenames:  True: Force filenames to be Windows compatible
                        False: Sanitize filenames only minimally
@@ -1441,31 +1440,31 @@ def evaluate_outtmpl_for_filename(self, outtmpl, info_dict, *args, **kwargs):
         filename = outtmpl % info_dict
 
         def parse_max_file_name(max_file_name: str):
+            # old --trim-filenames format
+            try:
+                return 'c', int(max_file_name)
+            except ValueError:
+                pass
+
             try:
                 max_length = int(max_file_name[:-1])
             except ValueError:
-                raise ValueError('Invalid --max-filename-length specified')
+                raise ValueError('Invalid --trim-filenames specified')
 
             if max_file_name[-1].lower() == 'c':
                 return 'c', max_length
             elif max_file_name[-1].lower() == 'b':
                 return 'b', max_length
             else:
-                raise ValueError("--max-filename-length must end with 'b' or 'c'")
+                raise ValueError("--trim-filenames must end with 'b' or 'c'")
 
-        max_file_name = self.params.get('max_file_name', DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME)
+        max_file_name = self.params.get('trim_file_name') or DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME
         mode, max_file_name = parse_max_file_name(max_file_name)
-        encoding = self.params.get('filesystem_encoding', sys.getfilesystemencoding())
-
-        # extension may be replaced later
-        if mode == 'b':
-            max_suffix_len = len('.annotations.xml'.encode(encoding))
-        else:
-            max_suffix_len = len('.annotations.xml')
+        if max_file_name < 1:
+            raise ValueError('Invalid --trim-filenames specified')
+        encoding = self.params.get('filesystem_encoding') or sys.getfilesystemencoding()
 
         def trim_filename(name: str, length: int):
-            if length < 1:
-                raise ValueError('Cannot trim filename to such short length')
             if mode == 'b':
                 name = name.encode(encoding)
                 name = name[:length]
@@ -1475,7 +1474,7 @@ def trim_filename(name: str, length: int):
 
         # only trim last component of path - assume the directories are valid names
         head, tail = os.path.split(filename)
-        tail = trim_filename(tail, max_file_name - max_suffix_len)
+        tail = trim_filename(tail, max_file_name)
         filename = os.path.join(head, tail)
         return filename + suffix
 
@@ -1498,13 +1497,6 @@ def _prepare_filename(self, info_dict, *, outtmpl=None, tmpl_type=None):
                 force_ext = OUTTMPL_TYPES[tmpl_type]
                 if force_ext:
                     filename = replace_extension(filename, force_ext, info_dict.get('ext'))
-
-            # https://github.com/blackjack4494/youtube-dlc/issues/85
-            trim_file_name = self.params.get('trim_file_name', False)
-            if trim_file_name:
-                no_ext, *ext = filename.rsplit('.', 2)
-                filename = join_nonempty(no_ext[:trim_file_name], *ext, delim='.')
-
             return filename
         except ValueError as err:
             self.report_error('Error in output template: ' + str(err) + ' (encoding: ' + repr(preferredencoding()) + ')')
diff --git a/yt_dlp/__init__.py b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
index 00817b0e5e..69d1e9ed36 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/__init__.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/__init__.py
@@ -886,7 +886,6 @@ def parse_options(argv=None):
         'max_downloads': opts.max_downloads,
         'prefer_free_formats': opts.prefer_free_formats,
         'trim_file_name': opts.trim_file_name,
-        'max_file_name': opts.max_file_name,
         'filesystem_encoding': opts.filesystem_encoding,
         'verbose': opts.verbose,
         'dump_intermediate_pages': opts.dump_intermediate_pages,
diff --git a/yt_dlp/options.py b/yt_dlp/options.py
index 7025928a05..49387a8216 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/options.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/options.py
@@ -1378,12 +1378,8 @@ def _alias_callback(option, opt_str, value, parser, opts, nargs):
         help='Sanitize filenames only minimally')
     filesystem.add_option(
         '--trim-filenames', '--trim-file-names', metavar='LENGTH',
-        dest='trim_file_name', default=0, type=int,
-        help='Limit the filename length (excluding extension) to the specified number of characters')
-    filesystem.add_option(
-        '--max-filename-length', metavar='LENGTH',
-        dest='max_file_name',
-        help='Limit the filename length (including extension) to the specified number of characters or bytes')
+        dest='trim_file_name',
+        help='Limit the filename length (excluding extension) to the specified number of characters or bytes')
     filesystem.add_option(
         '--filesystem-encoding', metavar='ENCODING',
         dest='filesystem_encoding',
diff --git a/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py b/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
index 90172125cd..15e92dfecf 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/utils/_utils.py
@@ -2854,9 +2854,9 @@ def q(qid):
 
 # https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems#Limits
 if platform.system() in ('Darwin', 'Windows'):
-    DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME = '255c'
+    DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME = f'{255 - len(".annotations.xml")}c'
 else:
-    DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME = '255b'
+    DEFAULT_MAX_FILE_NAME = f'{255 - len(".annotations.xml".encode(sys.getfilesystemencoding()))}b'
 
 # As of [1] format syntax is:
 #  %[mapping_key][conversion_flags][minimum_width][.precision][length_modifier]type