diff --git a/cookiecutter.json b/cookiecutter.json
index 5f22d3f0..5eecfe22 100644
--- a/cookiecutter.json
+++ b/cookiecutter.json
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
     "author_name": "Your name (or your organization/company/team)",
     "author_email": "Your email (or your organization/company/team)",
     "dependency_source": [
-        "Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback",
-        "Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback",
+        "Prefer conda-forge with pip fallback",
         "Dependencies from pip only (no conda)"
     ],
     "include_ReadTheDocs": [
@@ -40,8 +39,7 @@
     "_ci_name": "gh-ci",
     "_central_branch_name": "main",
     "_dependency_source_keys": {
-        "Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback": "conda-forge",
-        "Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback": "anaconda",
+        "Prefer conda-forge with pip fallback": "conda-forge",
         "Dependencies from pip only (no conda)": "pip"
     },
     "__dependency_source": "{{ cookiecutter._dependency_source_keys[cookiecutter.dependency_source] }}",
diff --git a/docs/scripts/generate_cookiecutter_cli.py b/docs/scripts/generate_cookiecutter_cli.py
index 7ba72c2e..1abac41c 100755
--- a/docs/scripts/generate_cookiecutter_cli.py
+++ b/docs/scripts/generate_cookiecutter_cli.py
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def generate_cli_output(self) -> str:
             "my-github-username",  # github_host_account
             "My Name",  # author_name
             "my_example_email@gmail.com",  # author_email
-            "3",  # dependency_source
+            "2",  # dependency_source
             "1",  # include_ReadTheDocs
             "MyAnalysisClass",  # template_analysis_class
             "1",  # license
diff --git a/docs/scripts/parse_authors.py b/docs/scripts/parse_authors.py
index a65ee889..1d89a500 100644
--- a/docs/scripts/parse_authors.py
+++ b/docs/scripts/parse_authors.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 
 def parse_authors(sort_alphabetically: bool = False):
-    username_pattern = "<@[\S]+>"
+    username_pattern = r"<@[\S]+>"
     with AUTHOR_FILE.open("r") as f:
         contents = [x.strip() for x in f.readlines()]
 
diff --git a/docs/source/cookiecutter/json_options.rst b/docs/source/cookiecutter/json_options.rst
index 45602cc0..0cb92d2e 100644
--- a/docs/source/cookiecutter/json_options.rst
+++ b/docs/source/cookiecutter/json_options.rst
@@ -32,12 +32,10 @@ They correspond to the following options:
     :widths: 30 70
     :header-rows: 1
 
-    * - __dependency_source 
+    * - __dependency_source
       - dependency_source
     * - conda-forge
-      - Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback
-    * - anaconda
-      - Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback
+      - Prefer conda-forge with pip fallback
     * - pip
       - Dependencies from pip only (no conda)
 
diff --git a/docs/source/getting_started.rst b/docs/source/getting_started.rst
index 1e8ae736..fe937b4e 100644
--- a/docs/source/getting_started.rst
+++ b/docs/source/getting_started.rst
@@ -146,8 +146,8 @@ dependency_source
 
 This option determines which sources to use for dependencies for the package.
 It affects the continuous integration testing, as well as
-the dependency files written. The three choices
-(``conda-forge``, ``anaconda``, and ``pip``)
+the dependency files written. The two choices
+(``conda-forge`` and ``pip``)
 are explained below.
 
 **Default value:** ``conda-forge``.
@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ are explained below.
 conda-forge
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-This option looks for dependencies first in the ``conda-forge`` channel,
-then the default ``anaconda`` channel, before falling back to ``pip``.
+This option looks for dependencies in the ``conda-forge`` channel,
+before falling back to ``pip``.
 
 .. note::
 
@@ -165,18 +165,9 @@ then the default ``anaconda`` channel, before falling back to ``pip``.
     ``conda`` is a great package manager for creating
     isolated environments, and managing dependencies between them.
     Moreover, many packages are available on ``conda-forge``
-    that are not on the default ``anaconda`` channel or ``pip``.
+    that are not available on ``pip``.
 
 
-
-anaconda
-~~~~~~~~
-
-This option still uses ``conda`` to manage dependencies,
-but only uses the ``anaconda`` channel and ``pip`` fallback.
-This option would install MDAnalysis from `PyPI`_ .
-as it is not available on the default ``anaconda`` channel.
-
 pip
 ~~~
 
diff --git a/mdakitter b/mdakitter
index a1fb0345..138f89bc 100755
--- a/mdakitter
+++ b/mdakitter
@@ -57,11 +57,10 @@ parser.add_argument(
 )
 parser.add_argument(
     "--dependency-source",
-    choices=["conda-forge", "anaconda", "pip"],
+    choices=["conda-forge", "pip"],
     help=(
         "Source to choose for dependencies. "
-        "'conda-forge' prefers conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback. "
-        "'anaconda' prefers default anaconda channel with pip fallback. "
+        "'conda-forge' prefers the conda-forge channel with pip fallback. "
         "'pip' uses dependencies from pip only (no conda)"
     ),
     default="conda-forge",
diff --git a/tests/utils.py b/tests/utils.py
index 210bb119..8c223d07 100644
--- a/tests/utils.py
+++ b/tests/utils.py
@@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ def get_classes_from_file(path: str) -> list:
 
 
 class DependencyType(enum.Enum):
-    CONDAFORGE = "Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback"
-    ANACONDA = "Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback"
+    CONDAFORGE = "Prefer conda-forge with pip fallback"
     PIP = "Dependencies from pip only (no conda)"
 
 
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.github/workflows/{{cookiecutter._ci_name}}.yaml b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.github/workflows/{{cookiecutter._ci_name}}.yaml
index 11086670..28ad4974 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.github/workflows/{{cookiecutter._ci_name}}.yaml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/.github/workflows/{{cookiecutter._ci_name}}.yaml
@@ -63,9 +63,6 @@ jobs:
         miniforge-version: "latest"
         use-mamba: true
         channels: conda-forge
-{% elif cookiecutter.__dependency_source == 'anaconda' %}
-        miniconda-version: "latest"
-        channels: defaults
 {% endif %}
         activate-environment: {{cookiecutter.repo_name}}-test
         auto-update-conda: true
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/devtools/conda-envs/test_env.yaml b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/devtools/conda-envs/test_env.yaml
index ea72bf80..ee8f91aa 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/devtools/conda-envs/test_env.yaml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/devtools/conda-envs/test_env.yaml
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 name: {{cookiecutter.repo_name}}-test
-channels:{% if cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback' %}
-  - conda-forge{% endif %}
-  - defaults
+channels:
+{% if cookiecutter.__dependency_source == 'conda-forge' %}
+  - conda-forge
+{% endif %}
 dependencies:
   # Base depends
   - python
   - pip
-{% if cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback' %}
+{% if cookiecutter.__dependency_source == 'conda-forge' %}
   # MDAnalysis
   - mdanalysis
 {% endif %}
@@ -14,14 +15,8 @@ dependencies:
   - pytest
   - pytest-cov
   - pytest-xdist
-{% if cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback' %}
-  # Pip-only installs
-  - pip:
-    - codecov
-    - MDAnalysis
-{% else %}  - codecov
+  - codecov
 
   # Pip-only installs
   #- pip:
   #  - codecov
-{% endif %}
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/README.md b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/README.md
index f30cb4b0..4908cf10 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/README.md
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/README.md
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 The docs for this project are built with [Sphinx](http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/).
 To compile the docs, first ensure that Sphinx and the ReadTheDocs theme are installed.
 
-{% if (cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer conda-forge over the default anaconda channel with pip fallback' or cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback') %}
+{% if cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer conda-forge with pip fallback' %}
 ```bash
-conda install sphinx sphinx_rtd_theme 
+conda install sphinx sphinx_rtd_theme
 ```
 {% elif cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Dependencies from pip only (no conda)' %}
 ```bash
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/requirements.yaml b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/requirements.yaml
index 051920e1..a8c83a0a 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/requirements.yaml
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.repo_name}}/docs/requirements.yaml
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
 name: {{cookiecutter.repo_name}}-docs
 channels:
-{% if cookiecutter.dependency_source == 'Prefer default anaconda channel with pip fallback' %}
-  - defaults
-{% else %}
   - conda-forge
-{% endif %}
 dependencies:
     # Base depends
   - python