diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/ConditionCriteria.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/ConditionCriteria.java
index c8329716..bd5c026e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/ConditionCriteria.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/ConditionCriteria.java
@@ -105,17 +105,4 @@ public interface ConditionCriteria {
 	 */
 	ConditionCriteria not();
 
-	/**
-	 * Appends an {@link org.springframework.ldap.filter.ProximityFilter}.
-	 * @param value the value to compare with.
-	 * @return an ContainerCriteria instance that can be used to continue append more
-	 * criteria or as the LdapQuery instance to be used as instance to e.g.
-	 * {@link org.springframework.ldap.core.LdapOperations#search(LdapQuery, org.springframework.ldap.core.ContextMapper)}.
-	 * @since 3.3
-	 * @see org.springframework.ldap.filter.EqualsFilter
-	 */
-	default ContainerCriteria near(String value) {
-		throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
-	}
-
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/DefaultConditionCriteria.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/DefaultConditionCriteria.java
index a3d922b9..72287890 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/DefaultConditionCriteria.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/DefaultConditionCriteria.java
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import org.springframework.ldap.filter.LessThanOrEqualsFilter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.filter.LikeFilter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.filter.NotFilter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.filter.PresentFilter;
-import org.springframework.ldap.filter.ProximityFilter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.filter.WhitespaceWildcardsFilter;
 
 /**
@@ -73,11 +72,6 @@ class DefaultConditionCriteria implements ConditionCriteria {
 		return appendToParent(new PresentFilter(this.attribute));
 	}
 
-	@Override
-	public ContainerCriteria near(String value) {
-		return appendToParent(new ProximityFilter(this.attribute, value));
-	}
-
 	private ContainerCriteria appendToParent(Filter filter) {
 		return this.parent.append(negateIfApplicable(filter));
 	}
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/LdapQueryBuilderTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/LdapQueryBuilderTests.java
index 543ec6b2..ce4f076e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/LdapQueryBuilderTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/ldap/query/LdapQueryBuilderTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2005-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2005-2025 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.ldap.query;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
+import org.springframework.ldap.filter.ProximityFilter;
 import org.springframework.ldap.support.LdapUtils;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ public class LdapQueryBuilderTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void buildProximity() {
-		LdapQuery result = LdapQueryBuilder.query().where("cn").near("John Doe");
+		LdapQuery result = LdapQueryBuilder.query().filter(new ProximityFilter("cn", "John Doe"));
 
 		assertThat(result.filter().encode()).isEqualTo("(cn~=John Doe)");
 	}