diff --git a/samples/BindingDemo/MainWindow.xaml b/samples/BindingDemo/MainWindow.xaml
index 08ac0426ea2..d1c65ca73b0 100644
--- a/samples/BindingDemo/MainWindow.xaml
+++ b/samples/BindingDemo/MainWindow.xaml
@@ -75,11 +75,11 @@
         </StackPanel.DataTemplates>
         <StackPanel Margin="18" Spacing="4" Width="200">
           <TextBlock FontSize="16" Text="Multiple"/>
-          <ListBox Items="{Binding Items}" SelectionMode="Multiple" Selection="{Binding Selection}"/>
+          <ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" SelectionMode="Multiple" Selection="{Binding Selection}"/>
         </StackPanel>
         <StackPanel Margin="18" Spacing="4" Width="200">
           <TextBlock FontSize="16" Text="Multiple"/>
-          <ListBox Items="{Binding Items}" SelectionMode="Multiple" Selection="{Binding Selection}"/>
+          <ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" SelectionMode="Multiple" Selection="{Binding Selection}"/>
         </StackPanel>
         <ContentControl Content="{ReflectionBinding Selection.SelectedItems[0]}">
           <ContentControl.DataTemplates>
diff --git a/samples/ControlCatalog/Pages/TabControlPage.xaml b/samples/ControlCatalog/Pages/TabControlPage.xaml
index a775056ebe9..3a2464e9fdb 100644
--- a/samples/ControlCatalog/Pages/TabControlPage.xaml
+++ b/samples/ControlCatalog/Pages/TabControlPage.xaml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
                     Text="From DataTemplate">
                 </TextBlock>
                 <TabControl
-                    Items="{Binding Tabs}"
+                    ItemsSource="{Binding Tabs}"
                     Margin="0 16"
                     DisplayMemberBinding="{Binding Header, x:DataType=viewModels:TabControlPageViewModelItem}"
                     TabStripPlacement="{Binding TabPlacement}">
diff --git a/samples/VirtualizationDemo/MainWindow.xaml b/samples/VirtualizationDemo/MainWindow.xaml
index 235f3ef2cc4..3aee63c2464 100644
--- a/samples/VirtualizationDemo/MainWindow.xaml
+++ b/samples/VirtualizationDemo/MainWindow.xaml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
                     Margin="16 0 0 0" 
                     Width="150"
                     Spacing="4">
-            <ComboBox Items="{Binding Orientations}"
+            <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Orientations}"
                       SelectedItem="{Binding Orientation}"/>
             <TextBox Watermark="Item Count"
                      UseFloatingWatermark="True"
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@
                      UseFloatingWatermark="True"
                      Text="{Binding #listBox.Scroll.Viewport, Mode=OneWay}"/>
             <TextBlock>Horiz. ScrollBar</TextBlock>
-            <ComboBox Items="{Binding ScrollBarVisibilities}"
+            <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding ScrollBarVisibilities}"
                       SelectedItem="{Binding HorizontalScrollBarVisibility}"/>
             <TextBlock>Vert. ScrollBar</TextBlock>
-            <ComboBox Items="{Binding ScrollBarVisibilities}"
+            <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding ScrollBarVisibilities}"
                       SelectedItem="{Binding VerticalScrollBarVisibility}"/>
             <TextBox Watermark="Item to Create"
                      UseFloatingWatermark="True"
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
         </StackPanel>
 
         <ListBox Name="listBox" 
-                 Items="{Binding Items}" 
+                 ItemsSource="{Binding Items}" 
                  Selection="{Binding Selection}"
                  SelectionMode="Multiple"
                  ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="{Binding HorizontalScrollBarVisibility, Mode=TwoWay}"
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Base/Metadata/InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute.cs b/src/Avalonia.Base/Metadata/InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute.cs
index e9bd6ab89f4..fac8cd8737d 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Base/Metadata/InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Base/Metadata/InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute.cs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ namespace Avalonia.Metadata;
 /// A typical usage example is a ListBox control, where <see cref="InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute"/> is defined on the ItemTemplate property,
 /// allowing the template to inherit the data type from the Items collection binding. 
 /// </remarks>
-[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple = true, Inherited = true)]
+[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple = false, Inherited = true)]
 public sealed class InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute : Attribute
 {
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Flyouts/MenuFlyout.cs b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Flyouts/MenuFlyout.cs
index ba5489ac251..8e1bc214a7b 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Flyouts/MenuFlyout.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Flyouts/MenuFlyout.cs
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ protected override Control CreatePresenter()
         {
             return new MenuFlyoutPresenter
             {
-                [!ItemsControl.ItemsProperty] = this[!ItemsProperty],
+                [!ItemsControl.ItemsSourceProperty] = this[!ItemsProperty],
                 [!ItemsControl.ItemTemplateProperty] = this[!ItemTemplateProperty],
                 [!ItemsControl.ItemContainerThemeProperty] = this[!ItemContainerThemeProperty],
             };
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemCollection.cs b/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemCollection.cs
index c9265558f0f..03f46551c5f 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemCollection.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemCollection.cs
@@ -106,19 +106,6 @@ private IList WritableSource
             }
         }
 
-        internal IList? GetItemsPropertyValue()
-        {
-            if (_mode == Mode.ObsoleteItemsSetter)
-                return Source == s_uninitialized ? null : Source;
-            return this;
-        }
-
-        internal void SetItems(IList? items)
-        {
-            _mode = Mode.ObsoleteItemsSetter;
-            SetSource(items ?? s_uninitialized);
-        }
-
         internal void SetItemsSource(IEnumerable? value)
         {
             if (_mode != Mode.ItemsSource && Count > 0)
@@ -159,7 +146,6 @@ private enum Mode
         {
             Items,
             ItemsSource,
-            ObsoleteItemsSetter,
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemsControl.cs b/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemsControl.cs
index 1123f42afa8..6a914281479 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemsControl.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Controls/ItemsControl.cs
@@ -30,17 +30,6 @@ public class ItemsControl : TemplatedControl, IChildIndexProvider, IScrollSnapPo
         private static readonly FuncTemplate<Panel?> DefaultPanel =
             new(() => new StackPanel());
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Defines the <see cref="Items"/> property.
-        /// </summary>
-        public static readonly DirectProperty<ItemsControl, IList?> ItemsProperty =
-            AvaloniaProperty.RegisterDirect<ItemsControl, IList?>(
-                nameof(Items),
-                o => o.Items,
-#pragma warning disable CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
-                (o, v) => o.Items = v);
-#pragma warning restore CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
-
         /// <summary>
         /// Defines the <see cref="ItemContainerTheme"/> property.
         /// </summary>
@@ -94,7 +83,6 @@ public class ItemsControl : TemplatedControl, IChildIndexProvider, IScrollSnapPo
         /// </summary>
         [AssignBinding]
         [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(ItemsSource))]
-        [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(Items))]
         public IBinding? DisplayMemberBinding
         {
             get => GetValue(DisplayMemberBindingProperty);
@@ -129,48 +117,20 @@ public ItemContainerGenerator ItemContainerGenerator
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets or sets the items to display.
+        /// Gets the items to display.
         /// </summary>
         /// <remarks>
-        /// Since Avalonia 11, <see cref="ItemsControl"/> has both an <see cref="Items"/> property
-        /// and an <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property. The properties have the following differences:
-        /// 
-        /// <list type="bullet">
-        /// <item><see cref="Items"/> is initialized with an empty collection and is a direct property,
-        /// meaning that it cannot be styled </item>
-        /// <item><see cref="ItemsSource"/> is by default null, and is a styled property. This property
-        /// is marked as the content property and will be used for items added via inline XAML.</item>
-        /// </list>
-        /// 
-        /// In Avalonia 11 the two properties can be used almost interchangeably but this will change
-        /// in a later version. In order to be ready for this change, follow the following guidance:
-        /// 
-        /// <list type="bullet">
-        /// <item>You should use the <see cref="Items"/> property when you're assigning a collection of
-        /// item containers directly, for example adding a collection of <see cref="ListBoxItem"/>s
-        /// directly to a <see cref="ListBox"/>. Add the containers to the pre-existing list, do not
-        /// reassign the <see cref="Items"/> property via the setter or with a binding.</item>
-        /// <item>You should use the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property when you're assigning or
-        /// binding a collection of models which will be transformed by a data template.</item>
-        /// </list>
+        /// You use either the <see cref="Items"/> or the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property to
+        /// specify the collection that should be used to generate the content of your
+        /// <see cref="ItemsControl"/>. When the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property is set, the
+        /// <see cref="Items"/> collection is made read-only and fixed-size.
+        ///
+        /// When <see cref="ItemsSource"/> is in use, setting the <see cref="ItemsSource"/>
+        /// property to null removes the collection and restores usage to <see cref="Items"/>,
+        /// which will be an empty <see cref="ItemCollection"/>.
         /// </remarks>
         [Content]
-        public IList? Items
-        {
-            get => _items.GetItemsPropertyValue();
-
-            [Obsolete("Use ItemsSource to set or bind items.")]
-            set
-            {
-                var oldItems = _items.GetItemsPropertyValue();
-
-                if (value != oldItems)
-                {
-                    _items.SetItems(value);
-                    RaisePropertyChanged(ItemsProperty, oldItems, value);
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        public ItemCollection Items => _items;
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the <see cref="ControlTheme"/> that is applied to the container element generated for each item.
@@ -210,27 +170,17 @@ public ITemplate<Panel?> ItemsPanel
         /// Gets or sets a collection used to generate the content of the <see cref="ItemsControl"/>.
         /// </summary>
         /// <remarks>
-        /// Since Avalonia 11, <see cref="ItemsControl"/> has both an <see cref="Items"/> property
-        /// and an <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property. The properties have the following differences:
-        /// 
-        /// <list type="bullet">
-        /// <item><see cref="Items"/> is initialized with an empty collection and is a direct property,
-        /// meaning that it cannot be styled </item>
-        /// <item><see cref="ItemsSource"/> is by default null, and is a styled property. This property
-        /// is marked as the content property and will be used for items added via inline XAML.</item>
-        /// </list>
-        /// 
-        /// In Avalonia 11 the two properties can be used almost interchangeably but this will change
-        /// in a later version. In order to be ready for this change, follow the following guidance:
+        /// A common scenario is to use an <see cref="ItemsControl"/> such as a 
+        /// <see cref="ListBox"/> to display a data collection, or to bind an
+        /// <see cref="ItemsControl"/> to a collection object. To bind an <see cref="ItemsControl"/>
+        /// to a collection object, use the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property.
         /// 
-        /// <list type="bullet">
-        /// <item>You should use the <see cref="Items"/> property when you're assigning a collection of
-        /// item containers directly, for example adding a collection of <see cref="ListBoxItem"/>s
-        /// directly to a <see cref="ListBox"/>. Add the containers to the pre-existing list, do not
-        /// reassign the <see cref="Items"/> property via the setter or with a binding.</item>
-        /// <item>You should use the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property when you're assigning or
-        /// binding a collection of models which will be transformed by a data template.</item>
-        /// </list>
+        /// When the <see cref="ItemsSource"/> property is set, the <see cref="Items"/> collection
+        /// is made read-only and fixed-size.
+        ///
+        /// When <see cref="ItemsSource"/> is in use, setting the property to null removes the
+        /// collection and restores usage to <see cref="Items"/>, which will be an empty 
+        /// <see cref="ItemCollection"/>.
         /// </remarks>
         public IEnumerable? ItemsSource
         {
@@ -242,7 +192,6 @@ public IEnumerable? ItemsSource
         /// Gets or sets the data template used to display the items in the control.
         /// </summary>
         [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(ItemsSource))]
-        [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(Items))]
         public IDataTemplate? ItemTemplate
         {
             get => GetValue(ItemTemplateProperty);
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/HeaderedItemsControl.cs b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/HeaderedItemsControl.cs
index 55d2ec7506d..89f99682673 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/HeaderedItemsControl.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/HeaderedItemsControl.cs
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ internal void PrepareItemContainer()
                 treeTemplate.Match(item) &&
                 treeTemplate.ItemsSelector(item) is { } itemsBinding)
             {
-                _itemsBinding = BindingOperations.Apply(this, ItemsProperty, itemsBinding, null);
+                _itemsBinding = BindingOperations.Apply(this, ItemsSourceProperty, itemsBinding, null);
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/SelectingItemsControl.cs b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/SelectingItemsControl.cs
index b89a75787f6..9c060f2258f 100644
--- a/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/SelectingItemsControl.cs
+++ b/src/Avalonia.Controls/Primitives/SelectingItemsControl.cs
@@ -235,7 +235,6 @@ public object? SelectedItem
         /// </summary>
         [AssignBinding]
         [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(ItemsSource))]
-        [InheritDataTypeFromItems(nameof(Items))]
         public IBinding? SelectedValueBinding
         {
             get => GetValue(SelectedValueBindingProperty);
diff --git a/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.Loader/CompilerExtensions/Transformers/AvaloniaXamlIlDataContextTypeTransformer.cs b/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.Loader/CompilerExtensions/Transformers/AvaloniaXamlIlDataContextTypeTransformer.cs
index 681d2a38d46..a24d4eb6e96 100644
--- a/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.Loader/CompilerExtensions/Transformers/AvaloniaXamlIlDataContextTypeTransformer.cs
+++ b/src/Markup/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.Loader/CompilerExtensions/Transformers/AvaloniaXamlIlDataContextTypeTransformer.cs
@@ -73,32 +73,27 @@ public IXamlAstNode Transform(AstTransformationContext context, IXamlAstNode nod
                     // Infer data type from collection binding on a control that displays items.
                     var property = context.ParentNodes().OfType<XamlPropertyAssignmentNode>().FirstOrDefault();
                     var attributeType = context.GetAvaloniaTypes().InheritDataTypeFromItemsAttribute;
-                    var attributes = property?.Property?.GetClrProperty().CustomAttributes
-                        .Where(a => a.Type == attributeType).ToList();
-
-                    if (attributes?.Count > 0)
+                    var attribute = property?.Property?.GetClrProperty().CustomAttributes
+                        .FirstOrDefault(a => a.Type == attributeType);
+    
+                    if (attribute is not null)
                     {
-                        foreach (var attribute in attributes)
+                        var propertyName = (string)attribute.Parameters.First();
+                        XamlAstConstructableObjectNode parentObject;
+                        if (attribute.Properties.TryGetValue("AncestorType", out var type)
+                            && type is IXamlType xamlType)
                         {
-                            var propertyName = (string)attribute.Parameters.First();
-                            XamlAstConstructableObjectNode parentObject;
-                            if (attribute.Properties.TryGetValue("AncestorType", out var type)
-                                && type is IXamlType xamlType)
-                            {
-                                parentObject = context.ParentNodes().OfType<XamlAstConstructableObjectNode>()
-                                    .FirstOrDefault(n => n.Type.GetClrType().FullName == xamlType.FullName);
-                            }
-                            else
-                            {
-                                parentObject = context.ParentNodes().OfType<XamlAstConstructableObjectNode>().FirstOrDefault();
-                            }
-
-                            if (parentObject != null)
-                            {
-                                inferredDataContextTypeNode = InferDataContextOfPresentedItem(context, on, parentObject, propertyName);
-                                if (inferredDataContextTypeNode != null)
-                                    break;
-                            }
+                            parentObject = context.ParentNodes().OfType<XamlAstConstructableObjectNode>()
+                                .FirstOrDefault(n => n.Type.GetClrType().FullName == xamlType.FullName);
+                        }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            parentObject = context.ParentNodes().OfType<XamlAstConstructableObjectNode>().FirstOrDefault();
+                        }
+                            
+                        if (parentObject != null)
+                        {
+                            inferredDataContextTypeNode = InferDataContextOfPresentedItem(context, on, parentObject, propertyName);
                         }
                     }
                     
diff --git a/tests/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.UnitTests/Xaml/ControlBindingTests.cs b/tests/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.UnitTests/Xaml/ControlBindingTests.cs
index affa292a7d7..6018e2438f6 100644
--- a/tests/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.UnitTests/Xaml/ControlBindingTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Avalonia.Markup.Xaml.UnitTests/Xaml/ControlBindingTests.cs
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ public void Can_Bind_Between_TabStrip_And_Carousel()
                 var xaml = @"
 <Window xmlns='https://github.com/avaloniaui'>
     <DockPanel>
-        <TabStrip Name='strip' DockPanel.Dock='Top' Items='{Binding Items}' SelectedIndex='0'>
+        <TabStrip Name='strip' DockPanel.Dock='Top' ItemsSource='{Binding Items}' SelectedIndex='0'>
           <TabStrip.ItemTemplate>
             <DataTemplate>
               <TextBlock Text='{Binding Header}'/>
             </DataTemplate>
           </TabStrip.ItemTemplate>
         </TabStrip>
-        <Carousel Name='carousel' Items='{Binding Items}' SelectedIndex='{Binding #strip.SelectedIndex}'>
+        <Carousel Name='carousel' ItemsSource='{Binding Items}' SelectedIndex='{Binding #strip.SelectedIndex}'>
           <Carousel.ItemTemplate>
             <DataTemplate>
               <TextBlock Text='{Binding Detail}'/>