diff --git a/cookiecutter/tap-template/{{cookiecutter.tap_id}}/{{cookiecutter.library_name}}/rest-client.py b/cookiecutter/tap-template/{{cookiecutter.tap_id}}/{{cookiecutter.library_name}}/rest-client.py
index 26c1447c9..16ad9d23f 100644
--- a/cookiecutter/tap-template/{{cookiecutter.tap_id}}/{{cookiecutter.library_name}}/rest-client.py
+++ b/cookiecutter/tap-template/{{cookiecutter.tap_id}}/{{cookiecutter.library_name}}/rest-client.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 from singer_sdk.streams import {{ cookiecutter.stream_type }}Stream
 
 {% elif cookiecutter.auth_method == "Basic Auth" -%}
-from singer_sdk.authenticators import BasicAuthenticator
+from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth
 from singer_sdk.helpers.jsonpath import extract_jsonpath
 from singer_sdk.pagination import BaseAPIPaginator  # noqa: TCH002
 from singer_sdk.streams import {{ cookiecutter.stream_type }}Stream
@@ -110,14 +110,13 @@ def authenticator(self) -> BearerTokenAuthenticator:
 {%- elif cookiecutter.auth_method == "Basic Auth" %}
 
     @property
-    def authenticator(self) -> BasicAuthenticator:
+    def authenticator(self) -> HTTPBasicAuth:
         """Return a new authenticator object.
 
         Returns:
             An authenticator instance.
         """
-        return BasicAuthenticator.create_for_stream(
-            self,
+        return HTTPBasicAuth(
             username=self.config.get("username", ""),
             password=self.config.get("password", ""),
         )
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d22e6c693..5de8456b5 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -249,6 +249,10 @@ jsonl = "singer_sdk.contrib.batch_encoder_jsonl:JSONLinesBatcher"
 parquet = "singer_sdk.contrib.batch_encoder_parquet:ParquetBatcher"
 
 [tool.ruff]
+extend-exclude = [
+    "cookiecutter/*",
+    "*simpleeval*",
+]
 line-length = 88
 src = ["samples", "singer_sdk", "tests"]
 target-version = "py38"
@@ -257,10 +261,6 @@ target-version = "py38"
 docstring-code-format = true
 
 [tool.ruff.lint]
-exclude = [
-    "cookiecutter/*",
-    "*simpleeval*",
-]
 ignore = [
     "ANN101",  # Missing type annotation for `self` in method
     "ANN102",  # Missing type annotation for `cls` in class method
diff --git a/singer_sdk/authenticators.py b/singer_sdk/authenticators.py
index 82e0556bc..70004efbe 100644
--- a/singer_sdk/authenticators.py
+++ b/singer_sdk/authenticators.py
@@ -297,7 +297,10 @@ def create_for_stream(
 class BasicAuthenticator(APIAuthenticatorBase):
     """Implements basic authentication for REST Streams.
 
-    This Authenticator implements basic authentication by concatinating a
+    .. deprecated:: 0.36.0
+       Use :class:`requests.auth.HTTPBasicAuth` instead.
+
+    This Authenticator implements basic authentication by concatenating a
     username and password then base64 encoding the string. The resulting
     token will be merged with any HTTP headers specified on the stream.
     """
diff --git a/singer_sdk/helpers/_flattening.py b/singer_sdk/helpers/_flattening.py
index 2a3e194d0..9dcbf1281 100644
--- a/singer_sdk/helpers/_flattening.py
+++ b/singer_sdk/helpers/_flattening.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def get_flattening_options(
     Returns:
         A new FlatteningOptions object or None if flattening is disabled.
     """
-    if plugin_config.get("flattening_enabled"):
+    if plugin_config.get("flattening_enabled", False):
         return FlatteningOptions(max_level=int(plugin_config["flattening_max_depth"]))
 
     return None