diff --git a/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py b/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 635db5310258..000000000000
--- a/src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2026 The HuggingFace Team. All rights reserved.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-# limitations under the License.
-from ..utils import deprecate
-from .autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput, VQModel
-
-
-class VQEncoderOutput(VQEncoderOutput):
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        deprecation_message = "Importing `VQEncoderOutput` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput`, instead."
-        deprecate("VQEncoderOutput", "0.31", deprecation_message)
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-
-
-class VQModel(VQModel):
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        deprecation_message = "Importing `VQModel` from `diffusers.models.vq_model` is deprecated and this will be removed in a future version. Please use `from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQModel`, instead."
-        deprecate("VQModel", "0.31", deprecation_message)
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/src/diffusers/pipelines/deprecated/wuerstchen/modeling_paella_vq_model.py b/src/diffusers/pipelines/deprecated/wuerstchen/modeling_paella_vq_model.py
index a18ab8eed6ec..d62b7787643b 100644
--- a/src/diffusers/pipelines/deprecated/wuerstchen/modeling_paella_vq_model.py
+++ b/src/diffusers/pipelines/deprecated/wuerstchen/modeling_paella_vq_model.py
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 
 from ....configuration_utils import ConfigMixin, register_to_config
 from ....models.autoencoders.vae import DecoderOutput, VectorQuantizer
+from ....models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput
 from ....models.modeling_utils import ModelMixin
-from ....models.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput
 from ....utils.accelerate_utils import apply_forward_hook
 
 
diff --git a/tests/regression/test_issue_14365_vq_model_shim.py b/tests/regression/test_issue_14365_vq_model_shim.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cbc9fa6d1abb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/regression/test_issue_14365_vq_model_shim.py
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+"""Regression tests for issue #14365 — removal of the vq_model.py shim file.
+
+The shim at ``src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py`` wraps the real implementations in
+``src/diffusers/models/autoencoders/vq_model.py`` with deprecation warnings.  This
+shim must be deleted so that the old import path raises a clear ``ImportError`` and
+the deprecated Wuerstchen PaellaVQModel is updated to import directly from the
+canonical autoencoders location.
+"""
+
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test A — public API must work
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_vq_model_importable_from_public_api():
+    """``from diffusers import VQModel`` must succeed and return the real class."""
+    from diffusers import VQModel
+
+    assert isinstance(VQModel, type), "VQModel must be a class"
+    assert VQModel.__module__ == "diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model", (
+        f"Expected __module__ 'diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model', got {VQModel.__module__!r}"
+    )
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test B — VQEncoderOutput importable from autoencoders path
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_vq_encoder_output_available():
+    """``from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput`` must succeed."""
+    from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput
+
+    assert isinstance(VQEncoderOutput, type), "VQEncoderOutput must be a class"
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test C — deprecated shim file must NOT exist
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_deprecated_shim_file_removed():
+    """The shim file ``src/diffusers/models/vq_model.py`` must not exist on disk."""
+    import diffusers.models
+
+    base = os.path.dirname(diffusers.models.__file__)
+    shim_path = os.path.join(base, "vq_model.py")
+    assert not os.path.exists(shim_path), (
+        f"Shim file still exists at {shim_path!r}. It must be removed so that the old import path raises ImportError."
+    )
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test D — old import path must raise ImportError
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_deprecated_vq_model_import_fails():
+    """``from diffusers.models.vq_model import VQModel`` must raise ImportError."""
+    with pytest.raises((ImportError, ModuleNotFoundError)):
+        # Use __import__ so we control the name passed to the import machinery
+        __import__("diffusers.models.vq_model", fromlist=["VQModel"])
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test E — PaellaVQModel must use VQEncoderOutput from autoencoders
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def test_paella_vq_model_vq_encoder_output_works():
+    """PaellaVQModel must import and use VQEncoderOutput from the canonical path.
+
+    This requires that PaellaVQModel imports VQEncoderOutput from the canonical
+    ``diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model`` path, not from the deprecated shim.
+
+    BEFORE the fix: importing PaellaVQModel raises ``ValueError`` because the
+    shim's ``deprecate()`` deadline has passed.
+
+    AFTER the fix: PaellaVQModel imports successfully and its VQEncoderOutput
+    reference resolves to the canonical autoencoders path.
+    """
+    from diffusers.pipelines.deprecated.wuerstchen.modeling_paella_vq_model import PaellaVQModel
+
+    assert PaellaVQModel is not None, "PaellaVQModel must be importable"
+
+    import diffusers.pipelines.deprecated.wuerstchen.modeling_paella_vq_model as _paella_mod
+    from diffusers.models.autoencoders.vq_model import VQEncoderOutput as CanonicalOutput
+
+    assert _paella_mod.VQEncoderOutput is CanonicalOutput, (
+        f"PaellaVQModel must use VQEncoderOutput from autoencoders.vq_model, got {_paella_mod.VQEncoderOutput}"
+    )