diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
index 8b9bc5e90c2b8b32556147cd34c9b37710d63ef1..9728551501ae2b523723a2163941f1be047db0a3 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/libbpf.h
@@ -706,7 +706,8 @@ bpf_object__prev_map(const struct bpf_object *obj, const struct bpf_map *map);
 LIBBPF_API int bpf_map__fd(const struct bpf_map *map);
 LIBBPF_API int bpf_map__reuse_fd(struct bpf_map *map, int fd);
 /* get map definition */
-LIBBPF_API const struct bpf_map_def *bpf_map__def(const struct bpf_map *map);
+LIBBPF_API LIBBPF_DEPRECATED_SINCE(0, 8, "use appropriate getters or setters instead")
+const struct bpf_map_def *bpf_map__def(const struct bpf_map *map);
 /* get map name */
 LIBBPF_API const char *bpf_map__name(const struct bpf_map *map);
 /* get/set map type */