diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index edba74f075..817d515783 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -3631,7 +3631,7 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     machine_class = MACHINE_GET_CLASS(current_machine);
     if (!qtest_enabled() && machine_class->deprecation_reason) {
-        error_report("Machine type '%s' is deprecated: %s",
+        warn_report("Machine type '%s' is deprecated: %s",
                      machine_class->name, machine_class->deprecation_reason);
     }