diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 07ca4bb1a..94fe52489 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 2.6.0 () -
 
+- TW #2554 Waiting is now an entirely "virtual" concept, based on a task's
+  'wait' property and the current time.  This is reflected in the +WAITING
+  tag, and in the now-deprecated `waiting` status.  Please upgrade filters
+  and other automation to use `+WAITING` or `wait.after:now` instead of
+  `status:waiting`, as support will be dropped in a future version.
+  TaskWarrior no longer explicitly "unwaits" a task, so the "unwait' verbosity
+  token is no longer available.
 - TW #1654 "Due" parsing behaviour seems inconsistent
            Thanks to Max Rossmannek.
 - TW #1788 When deleting recurring task all tasks, including completed tasks,
diff --git a/doc/man/taskrc.5.in b/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
index 3c22e9519..f628f3b60 100644
--- a/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
+++ b/doc/man/taskrc.5.in
@@ -299,11 +299,10 @@ control specific occasions when output is generated. This list may contain:
     sync       Feedback about sync
     filter     Shows the filter used in the command
     context    Show the current context. Displayed in footnote.
-    unwait     Notification when a task leaves the 'waiting' state
     override   Notification when configuration options are overridden
     recur      Notification when a new recurring task instance is created
 
-"affected", "new-id", "new-uuid", "project", "unwait", "override" and "recur"
+"affected", "new-id", "new-uuid", "project", "override" and "recur"
 imply "footnote".
 
 Note that the "1" setting is equivalent to all the tokens being specified,
@@ -312,7 +311,7 @@ and the "nothing" setting is equivalent to none of the tokens being specified.
 Here are the shortcut equivalents:
 
     verbose=on
-    verbose=blank,header,footnote,label,new-id,affected,edit,special,project,sync,filter,unwait,override,recur
+    verbose=blank,header,footnote,label,new-id,affected,edit,special,project,sync,filter,override,recur
 
     verbose=0
     verbose=blank,label,new-id,edit
diff --git a/src/Context.cpp b/src/Context.cpp
index fc7cfe130..085c2a87c 100644
--- a/src/Context.cpp
+++ b/src/Context.cpp
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ std::string configurationDefaults =
   "\n"
   "# Miscellaneous\n"
   "#                                              # Comma-separated list.  May contain any subset of:\n"
-  "verbose=blank,header,footnote,label,new-id,affected,edit,special,project,sync,filter,unwait,override,recur\n"
+  "verbose=blank,header,footnote,label,new-id,affected,edit,special,project,sync,filter,override,recur\n"
   "confirmation=1                                 # Confirmation on delete, big changes\n"
   "recurrence=1                                   # Enable recurrence\n"
   "recurrence.confirmation=prompt                 # Confirmation for propagating changes among recurring tasks (yes/no/prompt)\n"
@@ -1029,7 +1029,6 @@ bool Context::verbose (const std::string& token)
           v != "project"  &&  //
           v != "sync"     &&  //
           v != "filter"   &&  //
-          v != "unwait"   &&  //
           v != "override" &&  //
           v != "context" &&  //
           v != "recur")       //
@@ -1043,7 +1042,7 @@ bool Context::verbose (const std::string& token)
     if (! verbosity.count ("footnote"))
     {
       // TODO: Some of these may not use footnotes yet.  They should.
-      for (auto flag : {"affected", "new-id", "new-uuid", "project", "unwait", "override", "recur"})
+      for (auto flag : {"affected", "new-id", "new-uuid", "project", "override", "recur"})
       {
         if (verbosity.count (flag))
         {
diff --git a/src/TDB2.cpp b/src/TDB2.cpp
index 21234ebc1..9b1cf7443 100644
--- a/src/TDB2.cpp
+++ b/src/TDB2.cpp
@@ -355,23 +355,6 @@ void TF2::load_gc (Task& task)
   {
     Context::getContext ().tdb2.pending._tasks.push_back (task);
   }
-  else if (status == "waiting")
-  {
-    Datetime wait (task.get_date ("wait"));
-    if (wait < now)
-    {
-      task.set ("status", "pending");
-      task.remove ("wait");
-      // Unwaiting pending tasks is the only case not caught by the size()
-      // checks in TDB2::gc(), so we need to signal it here.
-      Context::getContext ().tdb2.pending._dirty = true;
-
-      if (Context::getContext ().verbose ("unwait"))
-        Context::getContext ().footnote (format ("Un-waiting task {1} '{2}'", task.id, task.get ("description")));
-    }
-
-    Context::getContext ().tdb2.pending._tasks.push_back (task);
-  }
   else
   {
     Context::getContext ().tdb2.completed._tasks.push_back (task);
@@ -1249,7 +1232,6 @@ void TDB2::show_diff (
 // Possible scenarios:
 // - task in pending that needs to be in completed
 // - task in completed that needs to be in pending
-// - waiting task in pending that needs to be un-waited
 void TDB2::gc ()
 {
   Timer timer;
diff --git a/src/Task.cpp b/src/Task.cpp
index e7c6c377a..83e60def3 100644
--- a/src/Task.cpp
+++ b/src/Task.cpp
@@ -147,7 +147,9 @@ Task::status Task::textToStatus (const std::string& input)
   else if (input[0] == 'c') return Task::completed;
   else if (input[0] == 'd') return Task::deleted;
   else if (input[0] == 'r') return Task::recurring;
-  else if (input[0] == 'w') return Task::waiting;
+  // for compatibility, parse `w` as pending; Task::getStatus will
+  // apply the virtual waiting status if appropriate
+  else if (input[0] == 'w') return Task::pending;
 
   throw format ("The status '{1}' is not valid.", input);
 }
@@ -301,12 +303,25 @@ Task::status Task::getStatus () const
   if (! has ("status"))
     return Task::pending;
 
-  return textToStatus (get ("status"));
+  auto status = textToStatus (get ("status"));
+
+  // implement the "virtual" Task::waiting status, which is not stored on-disk
+  // but is defined as a pending task with a `wait` attribute in the future.
+  if (status == Task::pending && is_waiting ()) {
+      return Task::waiting;
+  }
+
+  return status;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 void Task::setStatus (Task::status status)
 {
+  // the 'waiting' status is a virtual version of 'pending', so translate
+  // that back to 'pending' here
+  if (status == Task::waiting)
+      status = Task::pending;
+
   set ("status", statusToText (status));
 
   recalc_urgency = true;
@@ -559,6 +574,23 @@ bool Task::is_overdue () const
 }
 #endif
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+bool Task::is_waiting () const
+{
+  // note that is_waiting can return true for tasks in an actual status other
+  // than pending; in this case +WAITING will be set but the status will not be
+  // "waiting"
+  if (has ("wait"))
+  {
+    Datetime now;
+    Datetime wait (get_date ("wait"));
+    if (wait > now)
+      return true;
+  }
+
+  return false;
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Attempt an FF4 parse first, using Task::parse, and in the event of an error
 // try a JSON parse, otherwise a legacy parse (currently no legacy formats are
@@ -1311,7 +1343,7 @@ bool Task::hasTag (const std::string& tag) const
     if (tag == "TAGGED")    return getTagCount() > 0;
     if (tag == "PARENT")    return has ("mask") || has ("last");       // 2017-01-07: Deprecated in 2.6.0
     if (tag == "TEMPLATE")  return has ("last") || has ("mask");
-    if (tag == "WAITING")   return get ("status") == "waiting";
+    if (tag == "WAITING")   return is_waiting ();
     if (tag == "PENDING")   return get ("status") == "pending";
     if (tag == "COMPLETED") return get ("status") == "completed";
     if (tag == "DELETED")   return get ("status") == "deleted";
@@ -2048,7 +2080,7 @@ float Task::urgency_scheduled () const
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 float Task::urgency_waiting () const
 {
-  if (get_ref ("status") == "waiting")
+  if (is_waiting ())
     return 1.0;
 
   return 0.0;
diff --git a/src/Task.h b/src/Task.h
index 5112dc3f1..1936e2a50 100644
--- a/src/Task.h
+++ b/src/Task.h
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ public:
   bool is_udaPresent () const;
   bool is_orphanPresent () const;
 #endif
+  bool is_waiting () const;
 
   status getStatus () const;
   void setStatus (status);
diff --git a/test/wait.t b/test/wait.t
index 489a8318f..748dac78c 100755
--- a/test/wait.t
+++ b/test/wait.t
@@ -62,8 +62,6 @@ class TestWait(TestCase):
         self.assertIn("visible", out)
         self.assertIn("hidden", out)
 
-        self.assertIn("Un-waiting task 2 'hidden'", err)
-
 
 class TestBug434(TestCase):
     # Bug #434: Task should not prevent users from marking as done tasks with
@@ -106,7 +104,7 @@ class TestFeature2322(TestCase):
         self.t = Task()
 
     def test_done_unwait(self):
-        """2322: Done should un-wait a waiting task"""
+        """2322: Done should remove the wait attribute"""
         self.t("add foo wait:tomorrow")
         code, out, err = self.t("export")
         self.assertIn('"wait":', out)
@@ -116,7 +114,7 @@ class TestFeature2322(TestCase):
         self.assertNotIn('"wait":', out)
 
     def test_delete_unwait(self):
-        """2322: Deleteion should un-wait a waiting task"""
+        """2322: Delete should remove the wait attribute"""
         self.t("add bar wait:tomorrow")
         code, out, err = self.t("export")
         self.assertIn('"wait":', out)