diff --git a/R/data_rename.R b/R/data_rename.R
index 71edd7b6b..93d32d612 100644
--- a/R/data_rename.R
+++ b/R/data_rename.R
@@ -56,9 +56,6 @@
 #' # use named vector to rename
 #' head(data_rename(iris, c(length = "Sepal.Length", width = "Sepal.Width")))
 #'
-#' # Reset names
-#' head(data_rename(iris, NULL))
-#'
 #' # Change all
 #' head(data_rename(iris, replacement = paste0("Var", 1:5)))
 #'
@@ -92,8 +89,12 @@ data_rename <- function(data,
                         verbose = TRUE,
                         pattern = NULL,
                         ...) {
+  # If the user does data_rename(iris, pattern = "Sepal.Length", "length"),
+  # then "length" is matched to select by position while it's the replacement
+  # => do the switch manually
   if (!is.null(pattern)) {
     .is_deprecated("pattern", "select")
+    replacement <- select
     select <- pattern
   }
   if (isFALSE(safe)) {
diff --git a/man/data_rename.Rd b/man/data_rename.Rd
index 0ca627cf6..8d99fb54f 100644
--- a/man/data_rename.Rd
+++ b/man/data_rename.Rd
@@ -122,9 +122,6 @@ head(data_rename(iris, "Sepal.Length", "length"))
 # use named vector to rename
 head(data_rename(iris, c(length = "Sepal.Length", width = "Sepal.Width")))
 
-# Reset names
-head(data_rename(iris, NULL))
-
 # Change all
 head(data_rename(iris, replacement = paste0("Var", 1:5)))
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R b/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
index 3bc0254a8..3495a3355 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
@@ -80,16 +80,11 @@ test_that("data_rename works when not enough names in 'replacement'", {
 
 # no select --------------
 
-test_that("data_rename uses the whole dataset when select = NULL", {
-  x1 <- data_rename(test)
-  x2 <- data_rename(test, select = names(test))
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x1))
-  expect_identical(x1, x2)
-
-  x3 <- data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:5))
-  x4 <- data_rename(test, select = names(test), replacement = paste0("foo", 1:5))
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x3))
-  expect_identical(x3, x4)
+test_that("data_rename errors when select = NULL", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test),
+    "more names in `select`"
+  )
 })
 
 
@@ -98,7 +93,7 @@ test_that("data_rename uses the whole dataset when select = NULL", {
 test_that("data_rename: argument 'safe' is deprecated", {
   expect_error(
     data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", verbose = FALSE),
-    "more names in `replacement`"
+    "were not found"
   )
   expect_error(
     expect_warning(
@@ -117,13 +112,6 @@ test_that("data_rename deals correctly with duplicated replacement", {
   expect_named(x[1:4], c("foo", "bar", "foo.2", "bar.2"))
 })
 
-test_that("data_rename errors if invalid select", {
-  expect_error(
-    data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", verbose = FALSE),
-    "more names in `replacement`"
-  )
-})
-
 
 # preserve attributes --------------------------