diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
index 94670066de62..281cb19591e5 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
@@ -180,6 +180,7 @@ bpf_object__open_mem(const void *obj_buf, size_t obj_buf_sz,
 		     const struct bpf_object_open_opts *opts);
 
 /* deprecated bpf_object__open variants */
+LIBBPF_DEPRECATED_SINCE(0, 8, "use bpf_object__open_mem() instead")
 LIBBPF_API struct bpf_object *
 bpf_object__open_buffer(const void *obj_buf, size_t obj_buf_sz,
 			const char *name);