diff --git a/ca/ca.go b/ca/ca.go
index 2b14b6bf81f..4c80439d37a 100644
--- a/ca/ca.go
+++ b/ca/ca.go
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ type certificateAuthorityImpl struct {
 
 	// The prefix is prepended to the serial number.
 	prefix    byte
-	maxNames  int
 	keyPolicy goodkey.KeyPolicy
 	clk       clock.Clock
 	log       blog.Logger
@@ -140,7 +139,6 @@ func NewCertificateAuthorityImpl(
 	issuers []*issuance.Issuer,
 	profiles map[string]*issuance.Profile,
 	serialPrefix byte,
-	maxNames int,
 	keyPolicy goodkey.KeyPolicy,
 	logger blog.Logger,
 	metrics *caMetrics,
@@ -195,7 +193,6 @@ func NewCertificateAuthorityImpl(
 		issuers:   issuers,
 		profiles:  profiles,
 		prefix:    serialPrefix,
-		maxNames:  maxNames,
 		keyPolicy: keyPolicy,
 		log:       logger,
 		metrics:   metrics,
@@ -239,7 +236,7 @@ func (ca *certificateAuthorityImpl) IssueCertificate(ctx context.Context, req *c
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	err = csrlib.VerifyCSR(ctx, csr, ca.maxNames, &ca.keyPolicy, ca.pa)
+	err = csrlib.VerifyCSR(ctx, csr, &ca.keyPolicy, ca.pa)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/ca/ca_test.go b/ca/ca_test.go
index 77c0c4bebb2..bcd9cde8674 100644
--- a/ca/ca_test.go
+++ b/ca/ca_test.go
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ type caArgs struct {
 	issuers      []*issuance.Issuer
 	profiles     map[string]*issuance.Profile
 	serialPrefix byte
-	maxNames     int
 	keyPolicy    goodkey.KeyPolicy
 	logger       *blog.Mock
 	metrics      *caMetrics
@@ -201,7 +200,6 @@ func newCAArgs(t *testing.T) *caArgs {
 		issuers:      issuers,
 		profiles:     profiles,
 		serialPrefix: 0x11,
-		maxNames:     2,
 		keyPolicy:    keyPolicy,
 		logger:       blog.NewMock(),
 		metrics:      cametrics,
@@ -214,7 +212,7 @@ func newCAArgs(t *testing.T) *caArgs {
 func (c *caArgs) make() (*certificateAuthorityImpl, error) {
 	return NewCertificateAuthorityImpl(
 		c.sa, c.sctService, c.pa, c.issuers, c.profiles, c.serialPrefix,
-		c.maxNames, c.keyPolicy, c.logger, c.metrics, c.clk)
+		c.keyPolicy, c.logger, c.metrics, c.clk)
 }
 
 type mockSA struct{}
@@ -542,10 +540,6 @@ func TestIssueCertificate_BadCSR(t *testing.T) {
 			name:    "no names",
 			csrPath: "./testdata/no_names.der.csr",
 		},
-		{
-			name:    "too many names",
-			csrPath: "./testdata/too_many_names.der.csr",
-		},
 		{
 			name:    "short key",
 			csrPath: "./testdata/short_key.der.csr",
diff --git a/ca/testdata/too_many_names.der.csr b/ca/testdata/too_many_names.der.csr
deleted file mode 100644
index 71771782f21..00000000000
Binary files a/ca/testdata/too_many_names.der.csr and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/cmd/boulder-ca/main.go b/cmd/boulder-ca/main.go
index a28aad48d50..e1708d5d856 100644
--- a/cmd/boulder-ca/main.go
+++ b/cmd/boulder-ca/main.go
@@ -67,13 +67,6 @@ type Config struct {
 		// TODO(#7213): Replace `required_without` with `required` when SerialPrefix is removed.
 		SerialPrefixHex string `validate:"required_without=SerialPrefix,omitempty,hexadecimal,len=2"`
 
-		// MaxNames is the maximum number of subjectAltNames in a single cert.
-		// The value supplied MUST be greater than 0 and no more than 100. These
-		// limits are per section 7.1 of our combined CP/CPS, under "DV-SSL
-		// Subscriber Certificate". The value must match the RA and WFE
-		// configurations.
-		MaxNames int `validate:"required,min=1,max=100"`
-
 		// GoodKey is an embedded config stanza for the goodkey library.
 		GoodKey goodkey.Config
 
@@ -139,10 +132,6 @@ func main() {
 		serialPrefix = byte(parsedSerialPrefix)
 	}
 
-	if c.CA.MaxNames == 0 {
-		cmd.Fail("Error in CA config: MaxNames must not be 0")
-	}
-
 	scope, logger, oTelShutdown := cmd.StatsAndLogging(c.Syslog, c.OpenTelemetry, c.CA.DebugAddr)
 	defer oTelShutdown(context.Background())
 	cmd.LogStartup(logger)
@@ -244,7 +233,6 @@ func main() {
 			issuers,
 			profiles,
 			serialPrefix,
-			c.CA.MaxNames,
 			kp,
 			logger,
 			metrics,
diff --git a/csr/csr.go b/csr/csr.go
index 34b84c39b3b..581f36298ec 100644
--- a/csr/csr.go
+++ b/csr/csr.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ var (
 // VerifyCSR checks the validity of a x509.CertificateRequest. It uses
 // identifier.FromCSR to normalize the DNS names before checking whether we'll
 // issue for them.
-func VerifyCSR(ctx context.Context, csr *x509.CertificateRequest, maxNames int, keyPolicy *goodkey.KeyPolicy, pa core.PolicyAuthority) error {
+func VerifyCSR(ctx context.Context, csr *x509.CertificateRequest, keyPolicy *goodkey.KeyPolicy, pa core.PolicyAuthority) error {
 	key, ok := csr.PublicKey.(crypto.PublicKey)
 	if !ok {
 		return invalidPubKey
@@ -86,9 +86,6 @@ func VerifyCSR(ctx context.Context, csr *x509.CertificateRequest, maxNames int,
 	if len(idents) == 0 {
 		return invalidNoIdent
 	}
-	if len(idents) > maxNames {
-		return berrors.BadCSRError("CSR contains more than %d identifiers", maxNames)
-	}
 
 	err = pa.WillingToIssue(idents)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/csr/csr_test.go b/csr/csr_test.go
index d3d3d1bc44f..6f1936449a1 100644
--- a/csr/csr_test.go
+++ b/csr/csr_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/core"
-	berrors "github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/errors"
 	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/features"
 	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/goodkey"
 	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/identifier"
@@ -55,9 +54,6 @@ func TestVerifyCSR(t *testing.T) {
 	brokenSignedReq := new(x509.CertificateRequest)
 	*brokenSignedReq = *signedReq
 	brokenSignedReq.Signature = []byte{1, 1, 1, 1}
-	signedReqWithHosts := new(x509.CertificateRequest)
-	*signedReqWithHosts = *signedReq
-	signedReqWithHosts.DNSNames = []string{"a.com", "b.com"}
 	signedReqWithLongCN := new(x509.CertificateRequest)
 	*signedReqWithLongCN = *signedReq
 	signedReqWithLongCN.Subject.CommonName = strings.Repeat("a", maxCNLength+1)
@@ -86,86 +82,68 @@ func TestVerifyCSR(t *testing.T) {
 
 	cases := []struct {
 		csr           *x509.CertificateRequest
-		maxNames      int
 		pa            core.PolicyAuthority
 		expectedError error
 	}{
 		{
 			&x509.CertificateRequest{},
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidPubKey,
 		},
 		{
 			&x509.CertificateRequest{PublicKey: &private.PublicKey},
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			unsupportedSigAlg,
 		},
 		{
 			brokenSignedReq,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidSig,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReq,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidNoIdent,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithLongCN,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			nil,
 		},
-		{
-			signedReqWithHosts,
-			1,
-			&mockPA{},
-			berrors.BadCSRError("CSR contains more than 1 identifiers"),
-		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithBadNames,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			errors.New("policy forbids issuing for identifier"),
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithEmailAddress,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidEmailPresent,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithIPAddress,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			nil,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithIPCN,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidIPCN,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithURI,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			invalidURIPresent,
 		},
 		{
 			signedReqWithAllLongSANs,
-			100,
 			&mockPA{},
 			nil,
 		},
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range cases {
-		err := VerifyCSR(context.Background(), c.csr, c.maxNames, &keyPolicy, c.pa)
+		err := VerifyCSR(context.Background(), c.csr, &keyPolicy, c.pa)
 		test.AssertDeepEquals(t, c.expectedError, err)
 	}
 }
@@ -294,7 +272,7 @@ func TestSHA1Deprecation(t *testing.T) {
 		csr, err := x509.ParseCertificateRequest(csrBytes)
 		test.AssertNotError(t, err, "parsing test CSR")
 
-		return VerifyCSR(context.Background(), csr, 100, &keyPolicy, &mockPA{})
+		return VerifyCSR(context.Background(), csr, &keyPolicy, &mockPA{})
 	}
 
 	err = makeAndVerifyCsr(x509.SHA256WithRSA)
diff --git a/linter/lints/common.go b/linter/lints/common.go
index 4efe482869d..b2f071759ab 100644
--- a/linter/lints/common.go
+++ b/linter/lints/common.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
+	CPSV20Date           = time.Date(2017, time.April, 13, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 	CPSV33Date           = time.Date(2021, time.June, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 	MozillaPolicy281Date = time.Date(2023, time.February, 15, 0, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
 )
diff --git a/linter/lints/cpcps/lint_cert_has_san_count_out_of_bounds.go b/linter/lints/cpcps/lint_cert_has_san_count_out_of_bounds.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0f50ed8a4b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linter/lints/cpcps/lint_cert_has_san_count_out_of_bounds.go
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package cpcps
+
+import (
+	"github.com/zmap/zcrypto/x509"
+	"github.com/zmap/zlint/v3/lint"
+	"github.com/zmap/zlint/v3/util"
+
+	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/linter/lints"
+)
+
+type certSubjectAltNamesCountOutOfBounds struct{}
+
+func init() {
+	lint.RegisterCertificateLint(&lint.CertificateLint{
+		LintMetadata: lint.LintMetadata{
+			Name:          "e_cert_has_san_count_out_of_bounds",
+			Description:   "Let's Encrypt Subscriber Certificates subjectAlternativeName must be a sequence of 1 to 100 dNSNames or ipAddresses",
+			Citation:      "CPS: 7.1",
+			Source:        lints.LetsEncryptCPS,
+			EffectiveDate: lints.CPSV20Date,
+		},
+		Lint: CertNamesCountOutOfBounds,
+	})
+}
+
+func CertNamesCountOutOfBounds() lint.CertificateLintInterface {
+	return &certSubjectAltNamesCountOutOfBounds{}
+}
+
+func (l *certSubjectAltNamesCountOutOfBounds) CheckApplies(c *x509.Certificate) bool {
+	return util.IsSubscriberCert(c)
+}
+
+func (l *certSubjectAltNamesCountOutOfBounds) Execute(c *x509.Certificate) *lint.LintResult {
+	totalSANs := len(c.DNSNames) + len(c.IPAddresses)
+
+	// more likely to encounter certs with greater than 100 vs with fewer than 1
+	// so testing that failure first
+	if totalSANs > 100 || totalSANs < 1 {
+		return &lint.LintResult{Status: lint.Error}
+	}
+
+	return &lint.LintResult{Status: lint.Pass}
+}
diff --git a/ra/ra.go b/ra/ra.go
index e09e1b65005..6daa0550657 100644
--- a/ra/ra.go
+++ b/ra/ra.go
@@ -1023,7 +1023,7 @@ func (ra *RegistrationAuthorityImpl) validateFinalizeRequest(
 		)
 	}
 
-	err = csrlib.VerifyCSR(ctx, csr, profile.maxNames, &ra.keyPolicy, ra.PA)
+	err = csrlib.VerifyCSR(ctx, csr, &ra.keyPolicy, ra.PA)
 	if err != nil {
 		// VerifyCSR returns berror instances that can be passed through as-is
 		// without wrapping.
@@ -1033,6 +1033,11 @@ func (ra *RegistrationAuthorityImpl) validateFinalizeRequest(
 	// Dedupe, lowercase and sort both the names from the CSR and the names in the
 	// order.
 	csrIdents := identifier.FromCSR(csr)
+	// Check that the CSR identifiers count meets our CP/CPS requirements
+	if len(csrIdents) > profile.maxNames || len(csrIdents) < 1 {
+		return nil, nil, berrors.UnauthorizedError("CSR identifier count is not at minimum 1 or at maximum %d", profile.maxNames)
+	}
+
 	// Check that the order names and the CSR names are an exact match
 	if !slices.Equal(csrIdents, orderIdents) {
 		return nil, nil, berrors.UnauthorizedError("CSR does not specify same identifiers as Order")
diff --git a/test/config-next/ca.json b/test/config-next/ca.json
index b2d548ecb6b..bfec4b2556b 100644
--- a/test/config-next/ca.json
+++ b/test/config-next/ca.json
@@ -174,7 +174,6 @@
 			]
 		},
 		"serialPrefixHex": "6e",
-		"maxNames": 100,
 		"goodkey": {},
 		"ocspLogMaxLength": 4000,
 		"ctLogListFile": "test/ct-test-srv/log_list.json",
diff --git a/test/config/ca.json b/test/config/ca.json
index 59a1f348c5a..49056daaca2 100644
--- a/test/config/ca.json
+++ b/test/config/ca.json
@@ -181,7 +181,6 @@
 			]
 		},
 		"serialPrefixHex": "6e",
-		"maxNames": 100,
 		"goodkey": {},
 		"ocspLogMaxLength": 4000,
 		"ctLogListFile": "test/ct-test-srv/log_list.json",