diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index b091f8b67..e3d08dc8f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ namespaces = false
 
 [project]
 name = "sopel"
-version = "8.0.0"
+version = "8.1.0.dev0"
 description = "Simple and extensible IRC bot"
 maintainers = [
   { name="dgw" },
diff --git a/sopel/bot.py b/sopel/bot.py
index abe2f506e..9bdc74398 100644
--- a/sopel/bot.py
+++ b/sopel/bot.py
@@ -716,9 +716,14 @@ def call(
         :param func: the function to call
         :type func: :term:`function`
         :param sopel: a SopelWrapper instance
-        :type sopel: :class:`SopelWrapper`
-        :param Trigger trigger: the Trigger object for the line from the server
-                                that triggered this call
+        :param trigger: the Trigger object for the line from the server that
+                        triggered this call
+
+        .. deprecated:: 8.1
+
+            This method is deprecated and will be removed in Sopel 9.0. The
+            new rules system uses :meth:`call_rule` instead.
+
         """
         nick = trigger.nick
         current_time = time.time()
@@ -1120,6 +1125,7 @@ def _shutdown(self) -> None:
         # Avoid calling shutdown methods if we already have.
         self.shutdown_methods = []
 
+    # TODO: Remove in Sopel 9.0
     # URL callbacks management
 
     @deprecated(
diff --git a/sopel/builtins/url.py b/sopel/builtins/url.py
index 66864d2e3..a3d070661 100644
--- a/sopel/builtins/url.py
+++ b/sopel/builtins/url.py
@@ -478,7 +478,8 @@ def check_callbacks(
     )
     return (
         excluded or
-        any(bot.search_url_callbacks(url)) or
+        # TODO: _url_callbacks is deprecated and will be removed in Sopel 9.0
+        any(pattern.search(url) for pattern in bot._url_callbacks.keys()) or
         bot.rules.check_url_callback(bot, url)
     )
 
diff --git a/sopel/coretasks.py b/sopel/coretasks.py
index 93b11dbd2..eaa1776fe 100644
--- a/sopel/coretasks.py
+++ b/sopel/coretasks.py
@@ -1612,15 +1612,21 @@ def track_topic(bot, trigger):
 def handle_url_callbacks(bot, trigger):
     """Dispatch callbacks on URLs
 
-    For each URL found in the trigger, trigger the URL callback registered by
-    the ``@url`` decorator.
+    For each URL found in the trigger, trigger the URL callback registered
+    through the now deprecated :meth:`sopel.bot.Sopel.register_url_callback`.
+
+    .. deprecated:: 8.1
+
+        This is deprecated and will be removed in Sopel 9.0.
+
     """
     # find URLs in the trigger
     for url in trigger.urls:
         # find callbacks for said URL
-        for function, match in bot.search_url_callbacks(url):
+        for pattern, function in bot._url_callbacks.items():
+            match = pattern.search(url)
             # trigger callback defined by the `@url` decorator
-            if hasattr(function, 'url_regex'):
+            if match and hasattr(function, 'url_regex'):
                 # bake the `match` argument in before passing the callback on
                 @functools.wraps(function)
                 def decorated(bot, trigger):