diff --git a/devscripts/lazy_load_template.py b/devscripts/lazy_load_template.py
index c8815e01b..6f52165c5 100644
--- a/devscripts/lazy_load_template.py
+++ b/devscripts/lazy_load_template.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     age_restricted,
     bug_reports_message,
     classproperty,
+    variadic,
     write_string,
 )
 
diff --git a/devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py b/devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
index e763f5484..c502bdf89 100644
--- a/devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
+++ b/devscripts/make_lazy_extractors.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 NO_ATTR = object()
 STATIC_CLASS_PROPERTIES = [
-    'IE_NAME', '_ENABLED', '_VALID_URL', '_VALID_URLS',  # Used for URL matching
+    'IE_NAME', '_ENABLED', '_VALID_URL',  # Used for URL matching
     '_WORKING', 'IE_DESC', '_NETRC_MACHINE', 'SEARCH_KEY',  # Used for --extractor-descriptions
     'age_limit',  # Used for --age-limit (evaluated)
     '_RETURN_TYPE',  # Accessed in CLI only with instance (evaluated)
diff --git a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
index 11fc95920..958674574 100644
--- a/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
+++ b/yt_dlp/extractor/common.py
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ class InfoExtractor:
 
 
     Subclasses of this should also be added to the list of extractors and
-    should define a _VALID_URL regexp (or a list of _VALID_URLS) and, re-define the _real_extract() and
+    should define a _VALID_URL regexp (a single string or a list) and, re-define the _real_extract() and
     (optionally) _real_initialize() methods.
 
     Subclasses may also override suitable() if necessary, but ensure the function
@@ -508,7 +508,6 @@ class InfoExtractor:
     IE_DESC = None
     SEARCH_KEY = None
     _VALID_URL = None
-    _VALID_URLS = []
     _EMBED_REGEX = []
 
     def _login_hint(self, method=NO_DEFAULT, netrc=None):
@@ -536,18 +535,13 @@ def _match_valid_url(cls, url):
         if cls._VALID_URL is False:
             return None
 
-        if cls._VALID_URLS:
-            if '_VALID_URLS_RE' not in cls.__dict__:
-                cls._VALID_URLS_RE = tuple(map(re.compile, cls._VALID_URLS))
-            return next(filter(None, (
-                valid_url_re.match(url) for valid_url_re in cls._VALID_URLS_RE)), None)
-
         # This does not use has/getattr intentionally - we want to know whether
         # we have cached the regexp for *this* class, whereas getattr would also
         # match the superclass
         if '_VALID_URL_RE' not in cls.__dict__:
-            cls._VALID_URL_RE = re.compile(cls._VALID_URL)
-        return cls._VALID_URL_RE.match(url)
+            cls._VALID_URL_RE = tuple(map(re.compile, variadic(cls._VALID_URL)))
+        return next(filter(None, (
+            valid_url_re.match(url) for valid_url_re in cls._VALID_URL_RE)), None)
 
     @classmethod
     def suitable(cls, url):