diff --git a/integrations/pinecone/src/haystack_integrations/document_stores/pinecone/document_store.py b/integrations/pinecone/src/haystack_integrations/document_stores/pinecone/document_store.py
index 75d6270ca..07f217f5b 100644
--- a/integrations/pinecone/src/haystack_integrations/document_stores/pinecone/document_store.py
+++ b/integrations/pinecone/src/haystack_integrations/document_stores/pinecone/document_store.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 from haystack.dataclasses import Document
 from haystack.document_stores.types import DuplicatePolicy
 from haystack.utils import Secret, deserialize_secrets_inplace
-from haystack.utils.filters import convert
 
 from pinecone import Pinecone, PodSpec, ServerlessSpec
 
@@ -201,6 +200,10 @@ def filter_documents(self, filters: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> List[Doc
         :returns: A list of Documents that match the given filters.
         """
 
+        if filters and "operator" not in filters and "conditions" not in filters:
+            msg = "Invalid filter syntax. See https://docs.haystack.deepset.ai/docs/metadata-filtering for details."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+
         # Pinecone only performs vector similarity search
         # here we are querying with a dummy vector and the max compatible top_k
         documents = self._embedding_retrieval(query_embedding=self._dummy_vector, filters=filters, top_k=TOP_K_LIMIT)
@@ -253,7 +256,8 @@ def _embedding_retrieval(
             raise ValueError(msg)
 
         if filters and "operator" not in filters and "conditions" not in filters:
-            filters = convert(filters)
+            msg = "Legacy filters support has been removed. Please see documentation for new filter syntax."
+            raise ValueError(msg)
         filters = _normalize_filters(filters) if filters else None
 
         result = self.index.query(