diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index b153bfb8d..eac3f6c9e 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -112,8 +112,7 @@ Collate:
     'package_hooks_linter.R'
     'paren_body_linter.R'
     'paren_brace_linter.R'
-    'paste_sep_linter.R'
-    'paste_to_string_linter.R'
+    'paste_linter.R'
     'path_linters.R'
     'pipe_call_linter.R'
     'pipe_continuation_linter.R'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 781d457a9..0619bd8f5 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -79,8 +79,7 @@ export(outer_negation_linter)
 export(package_hooks_linter)
 export(paren_body_linter)
 export(paren_brace_linter)
-export(paste_sep_linter)
-export(paste_to_string_linter)
+export(paste_linter)
 export(pipe_call_linter)
 export(pipe_continuation_linter)
 export(redundant_ifelse_linter)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index d326b51e1..97e378076 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -116,8 +116,9 @@ function calls. (#850, #851, @renkun-ken)
    * `outer_negation_linter()` Require usage of `!any(x)` over `all(!x)` and `!all(x)` over `any(!x)`
    * `numeric_leading_zero_linter()` Require a leading `0` in fractional numeric constants, e.g. `0.1` instead of `.1`
    * `literal_coercion_linter()` Require using correctly-typed literals instead of direct coercion, e.g. `1L` instead of `as.numeric(1)`
-   * `paste_sep_linter()` Require usage of `paste0()` over `paste(sep = "")`
-   * `paste_to_string_linter()` Require usage of `toString(x)` over `paste(x, collapse = ", ")`
+   * `paste_linter()` lint for common mis-use of `paste()` and `paste()`:
+     + `paste0()` encouraged instead of `paste(sep = "")`
+     + `toString()` or `glue::glue_collapse()` encouraged instead of `paste(x, collapse = ", ")`
    * `nested_ifelse_linter()` Prevent nested calls to `ifelse()` like `ifelse(A, x, ifelse(B, y, z))`, and similar
    * `condition_message_linter` Prevent condition messages from being constructed like `stop(paste(...))` (where just `stop(...)` is preferable)
    * `redundant_ifelse_linter()` Prevent usage like `ifelse(A & B, TRUE, FALSE)` or `ifelse(C, 0, 1)` (the latter is `as.numeric(!C)`)
diff --git a/R/paste_linter.R b/R/paste_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d28dc358
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/paste_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+#' Raise lints for several common poor usages of paste()
+#'
+#' The following issues are linted by default by this linter
+#'   (and each can be turned off optionally):
+#'
+#'  1. Block usage of [paste()] with `sep = ""`. [paste0()] is a faster, more concise alternative.
+#'  2. Block usage of `paste()` or `paste0()` with `collapse = ", "`. [toString()] is a direct
+#'     wrapper for this, and alternatives like [glue::glue_collapse()] might give better messages for humans.
+#'
+#' @evalRd rd_tags("paste_linter")
+#' @param allow_empty_sep Logical, default `FALSE`. If `TRUE`, usage of
+#'   `paste()` with `sep = ""` is not linted.
+#' @param allow_to_string Logical, default `FALSE`. If `TRUE`, usage of
+#'   `paste()` and `paste0()` with `collapse = ", "` is not linted.
+#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
+#' @export
+paste_linter <- function(allow_empty_sep = FALSE, allow_to_string = FALSE) {
+  Linter(function(source_file) {
+    if (length(source_file$xml_parsed_content) == 0L) {
+      return(list())
+    }
+
+    xml <- source_file$xml_parsed_content
+
+    if (allow_empty_sep) {
+      empty_sep_lints <- NULL
+    } else {
+      # NB: string-length()=2 means '' or "" (*not* 'ab' or 'cd' which have length 4)
+      # TODO: adapt this for R>4.0 raw strings
+      empty_sep_xpath <- "//expr[
+        expr[SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'paste']]
+        and SYMBOL_SUB[text() = 'sep']/following-sibling::expr[1][STR_CONST[string-length(text()) = 2]]
+      ]"
+
+      empty_sep_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, empty_sep_xpath)
+
+      empty_sep_lints <- lapply(
+        empty_sep_expr,
+        xml_nodes_to_lint,
+        source_file = source_file,
+        lint_message = 'paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").',
+        type = "warning"
+      )
+    }
+
+    if (allow_to_string) {
+      to_string_lints <- NULL
+    } else {
+      # 3 expr: the function call, the argument, and collapse=
+      # TODO(michaelchirico): catch raw-string equivalents
+      seps <- c("', '", '", "')
+      to_string_xpath <- glue::glue("//expr[
+      expr[SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'paste' or text() = 'paste0']]
+        and count(expr) = 3
+        and SYMBOL_SUB[text() = 'collapse']/following-sibling::expr[1][STR_CONST[ {xp_text_in_table(seps)} ]]
+      ]")
+      to_string_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, to_string_xpath)
+
+      to_string_lints <- lapply(
+        to_string_expr,
+        xml_nodes_to_lint,
+        source_file = source_file,
+        lint_message = paste(
+          'toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ").',
+          "Note also glue::glue_collapse() and and::and()",
+          "for constructing human-readable / translation-friendly lists"
+        ),
+        type = "warning"
+      )
+    }
+
+    c(empty_sep_lints, to_string_lints)
+  })
+}
diff --git a/R/paste_sep_linter.R b/R/paste_sep_linter.R
deleted file mode 100644
index a4150eb9c..000000000
--- a/R/paste_sep_linter.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-#' Block usage of paste() with sep=""
-#'
-#' [paste0()] is a faster, more concise alternative to using `paste(sep = "")`.
-#'
-#' @evalRd rd_tags("paste_sep_linter")
-#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
-#' @export
-paste_sep_linter <- function() {
-  Linter(function(source_file) {
-    if (length(source_file$xml_parsed_content) == 0L) {
-      return(list())
-    }
-
-    xml <- source_file$xml_parsed_content
-
-    # NB: string-length()=2 means '' or "" (*not* 'ab' or 'cd' which have length 4)
-    # TODO: adapt this for R>4.0 raw strings
-    xpath <- "//expr[
-      expr[SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'paste']]
-      and SYMBOL_SUB[text() = 'sep']/following-sibling::expr[1][STR_CONST[string-length(text()) = 2]]
-    ]"
-
-    bad_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, xpath)
-
-    return(lapply(
-      bad_expr,
-      xml_nodes_to_lint,
-      source_file = source_file,
-      lint_message = 'paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").',
-      type = "warning"
-    ))
-  })
-}
diff --git a/R/paste_to_string_linter.R b/R/paste_to_string_linter.R
deleted file mode 100644
index a5935ad29..000000000
--- a/R/paste_to_string_linter.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-#' Block usage of paste() with collapse=", "
-#'
-#' [toString()] is a more concise and expressive wrapper for aggregating string
-#'   vectors with `paste(., collapse = ", ")`.
-#'
-#' @evalRd rd_tags("paste_to_string_linter")
-#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
-#' @export
-paste_to_string_linter <- function() {
-  Linter(function(source_file) {
-    if (length(source_file$xml_parsed_content) == 0L) {
-      return(list())
-    }
-
-    xml <- source_file$xml_parsed_content
-
-    # 3 expr: the function call, the argument, and collapse=
-    # TODO(michaelchirico): catch raw-string equivalents
-    seps <- c("', '", '", "')
-    xpath <- glue::glue("//expr[
-      expr[SYMBOL_FUNCTION_CALL[text() = 'paste' or text() = 'paste0']]
-      and count(expr) = 3
-      and SYMBOL_SUB[text() = 'collapse']/following-sibling::expr[1][STR_CONST[ {xp_text_in_table(seps)} ]]
-    ]")
-    bad_expr <- xml2::xml_find_all(xml, xpath)
-
-    return(lapply(
-      bad_expr,
-      xml_nodes_to_lint,
-      source_file = source_file,
-      lint_message = paste(
-        'toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ").',
-        "Note also glue::glue_collapse() and and::and()",
-        "for constructing human-readable / translation-friendly lists"
-      ),
-      type = "warning"
-    ))
-  })
-}
diff --git a/inst/lintr/linters.csv b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
index fbe99fd75..f971b8c18 100644
--- a/inst/lintr/linters.csv
+++ b/inst/lintr/linters.csv
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@ outer_negation_linter,readability efficiency best_practices
 package_hooks_linter,style correctness package_development
 paren_body_linter,style readability default
 paren_brace_linter,style readability default
-paste_sep_linter,best_practices consistency
-paste_to_string_linter,best_practices consistency
+paste_linter,best_practices consistency
 pipe_call_linter,style readability
 pipe_continuation_linter,style readability default
 redundant_ifelse_linter,best_practices efficiency consistency
diff --git a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
index c99ae5c24..0720eb81e 100644
--- a/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/best_practices_linters.Rd
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'best_practices':
 \item{\code{\link{literal_coercion_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{nonportable_path_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{outer_negation_linter}}}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_sep_linter}}}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_to_string_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{paste_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{redundant_ifelse_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{regex_subset_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{seq_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/consistency_linters.Rd b/man/consistency_linters.Rd
index 0807693ce..378c4904c 100644
--- a/man/consistency_linters.Rd
+++ b/man/consistency_linters.Rd
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@ The following linters are tagged with 'consistency':
 \item{\code{\link{no_tab_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{numeric_leading_zero_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{object_name_linter}}}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_sep_linter}}}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_to_string_linter}}}
+\item{\code{\link{paste_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{redundant_ifelse_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{seq_linter}}}
 \item{\code{\link{single_quotes_linter}}}
diff --git a/man/linters.Rd b/man/linters.Rd
index 9befecfd9..973eb524d 100644
--- a/man/linters.Rd
+++ b/man/linters.Rd
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@ Documentation for linters is structured into tags to allow for easier discovery.
 \section{Tags}{
 The following tags exist:
 \itemize{
-\item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (35 linters)}
+\item{\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices} (34 linters)}
 \item{\link[=common_mistakes_linters]{common_mistakes} (5 linters)}
 \item{\link[=configurable_linters]{configurable} (16 linters)}
-\item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (17 linters)}
+\item{\link[=consistency_linters]{consistency} (16 linters)}
 \item{\link[=correctness_linters]{correctness} (7 linters)}
 \item{\link[=default_linters]{default} (28 linters)}
 \item{\link[=efficiency_linters]{efficiency} (14 linters)}
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ The following linters exist:
 \item{\code{\link{package_hooks_linter}} (tags: correctness, package_development, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{paren_body_linter}} (tags: default, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{paren_brace_linter}} (tags: default, readability, style)}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_sep_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency)}
-\item{\code{\link{paste_to_string_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency)}
+\item{\code{\link{paste_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency)}
 \item{\code{\link{pipe_call_linter}} (tags: readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{pipe_continuation_linter}} (tags: default, readability, style)}
 \item{\code{\link{redundant_ifelse_linter}} (tags: best_practices, consistency, efficiency)}
diff --git a/man/paste_linter.Rd b/man/paste_linter.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..724be6a6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/paste_linter.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/paste_linter.R
+\name{paste_linter}
+\alias{paste_linter}
+\title{Raise lints for several common poor usages of paste()}
+\usage{
+paste_linter(allow_empty_sep = FALSE, allow_to_string = FALSE)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{allow_empty_sep}{Logical, default \code{FALSE}. If \code{TRUE}, usage of
+\code{paste()} with \code{sep = ""} is not linted.}
+
+\item{allow_to_string}{Logical, default \code{FALSE}. If \code{TRUE}, usage of
+\code{paste()} and \code{paste0()} with \code{collapse = ", "} is not linted.}
+}
+\description{
+The following issues are linted by default by this linter
+(and each can be turned off optionally):
+}
+\details{
+\enumerate{
+\item Block usage of \code{\link[=paste]{paste()}} with \code{sep = ""}. \code{\link[=paste0]{paste0()}} is a faster, more concise alternative.
+\item Block usage of \code{paste()} or \code{paste0()} with \code{collapse = ", "}. \code{\link[=toString]{toString()}} is a direct
+wrapper for this, and alternatives like \code{\link[glue:glue_collapse]{glue::glue_collapse()}} might give better messages for humans.
+}
+}
+\seealso{
+\link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
+}
+\section{Tags}{
+\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=consistency_linters]{consistency}
+}
diff --git a/man/paste_sep_linter.Rd b/man/paste_sep_linter.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 82f8f08b8..000000000
--- a/man/paste_sep_linter.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/paste_sep_linter.R
-\name{paste_sep_linter}
-\alias{paste_sep_linter}
-\title{Block usage of paste() with sep=""}
-\usage{
-paste_sep_linter()
-}
-\description{
-\code{\link[=paste0]{paste0()}} is a faster, more concise alternative to using \code{paste(sep = "")}.
-}
-\seealso{
-\link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
-}
-\section{Tags}{
-\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=consistency_linters]{consistency}
-}
diff --git a/man/paste_to_string_linter.Rd b/man/paste_to_string_linter.Rd
deleted file mode 100644
index 3f3302ef5..000000000
--- a/man/paste_to_string_linter.Rd
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/paste_to_string_linter.R
-\name{paste_to_string_linter}
-\alias{paste_to_string_linter}
-\title{Block usage of paste() with collapse=", "}
-\usage{
-paste_to_string_linter()
-}
-\description{
-\code{\link[=toString]{toString()}} is a more concise and expressive wrapper for aggregating string
-vectors with \code{paste(., collapse = ", ")}.
-}
-\seealso{
-\link{linters} for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
-}
-\section{Tags}{
-\link[=best_practices_linters]{best_practices}, \link[=consistency_linters]{consistency}
-}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-paste_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-paste_linter.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c078f1377
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-paste_linter.R
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+test_that("paste_linter skips allowed usages for sep=''", {
+  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c', sep = ',')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', collapse = '')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("cat(paste('a', 'b'), sep = '')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("sep <- ''; paste('a', sep)", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste(sep = ',', '', 'a')", NULL, paste_linter())
+
+  expect_lint("paste0('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_linter())
+})
+
+test_that("paste_linter blocks simple disallowed usages for sep=''", {
+  expect_lint(
+    "paste(sep = '', 'a', 'b')",
+    rex::rex('paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").'),
+    paste_linter()
+  )
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "paste('a', 'b', sep = '')",
+    rex::rex('paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").'),
+    paste_linter()
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("paste_linter skips allowed usages for collapse=', '", {
+  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste(x, sep = ', ')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste(x, collapse = ',')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste(foo(x), collapse = '/')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  # harder to catch statically
+  expect_lint("collapse <- ', '; paste(x, collapse = collapse)", NULL, paste_linter())
+
+  # paste(..., sep=sep, collapse=", ") is not a trivial swap to toString
+  expect_lint("paste(x, y, sep = '.', collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  # any call involving ...length() > 1 will implicitly use the default sep
+  expect_lint("paste(x, y, collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_linter())
+  expect_lint("paste0(x, y, collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_linter())
+
+  expect_lint("toString(x)", NULL, paste_linter())
+
+  # string match of ", " is OK -- lint only _exact_ match
+  expect_lint('paste(x, collapse = ", \n")', NULL, paste_linter())
+})
+
+test_that("paste_linter blocks simple disallowed usages for collapse=', '", {
+  expect_lint(
+    "paste(collapse = ', ', x)",
+    rex::rex('toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ")'),
+    paste_linter()
+  )
+
+  expect_lint(
+    "paste0(foo(x), collapse = ', ')",
+    rex::rex('toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ")'),
+    paste_linter()
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("paste_linter respects non-default arguments", {
+  expect_lint("paste(sep = '', 'a', 'b')", NULL, paste_linter(allow_empty_sep = TRUE))
+  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', sep = '')", NULL, paste_linter(allow_empty_sep = TRUE))
+
+  expect_lint("paste(collapse = ', ', x)", NULL, paste_linter(allow_to_string = TRUE))
+  expect_lint("paste0(foo(x), collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_linter(allow_to_string = TRUE))
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-paste_sep_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-paste_sep_linter.R
deleted file mode 100644
index 2503b6f2a..000000000
--- a/tests/testthat/test-paste_sep_linter.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-test_that("paste_sep_linter skips allowed usages", {
-  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c', sep = ',')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', collapse = '')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-  expect_lint("cat(paste('a', 'b'), sep = '')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-  expect_lint("sep <- ''; paste('a', sep)", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste(sep = ',', '', 'a')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-
-  expect_lint("paste0('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_sep_linter())
-})
-
-test_that("paste_sep_linter blocks simple disallowed usages", {
-  expect_lint(
-    "paste(sep = '', 'a', 'b')",
-    rex::rex('paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").'),
-    paste_sep_linter()
-  )
-
-  expect_lint(
-    "paste('a', 'b', sep = '')",
-    rex::rex('paste0(...) is better than paste(..., sep = "").'),
-    paste_sep_linter()
-  )
-})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-paste_to_string_linter.R b/tests/testthat/test-paste_to_string_linter.R
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e2b5d0ab..000000000
--- a/tests/testthat/test-paste_to_string_linter.R
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-test_that("paste_to_string_linter skips allowed usages", {
-  expect_lint("paste('a', 'b', 'c')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste(x, sep = ', ')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste(x, collapse = ',')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste(foo(x), collapse = '/')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  # harder to catch statically
-  expect_lint("collapse <- ', '; paste(x, collapse = collapse)", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-
-  # paste(..., sep=sep, collapse=", ") is not a trivial swap to toString
-  expect_lint("paste(x, y, sep = '.', collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  # any call involving ...length() > 1 will implicitly use the default sep
-  expect_lint("paste(x, y, collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-  expect_lint("paste0(x, y, collapse = ', ')", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-
-  expect_lint("toString(x)", NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-
-  # string match of ", " is OK -- lint only _exact_ match
-  expect_lint('paste(x, collapse = ", \n")', NULL, paste_to_string_linter())
-})
-
-test_that("paste_to_string_linter blocks simple disallowed usages", {
-  expect_lint(
-    "paste(collapse = ', ', x)",
-    rex::rex('toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ")'),
-    paste_to_string_linter()
-  )
-
-  expect_lint(
-    "paste0(foo(x), collapse = ', ')",
-    rex::rex('toString(.) is more expressive than paste(., collapse = ", ")'),
-    paste_to_string_linter()
-  )
-})