diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
index ad07b002ea..9dcb2db752 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/api-report.md
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ export function createRandomRefreshInterval(options: {
 // @public
 export function createRouter(options: RouterOptions): Promise<express.Router>;
 
-// @public
+// @public @deprecated (undocumented)
 export class DefaultCatalogCollator {
   constructor(options: {
     discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
index 7700048b14..ac9a33bf62 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/search/DefaultCatalogCollator.ts
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ import {
 } from '@backstage/plugin-catalog-common';
 
 /**
- * The DefaultCatalogCollator for Search
  * @public
+ * @deprecated Upgrade to a more recent `@backstage/search-backend-node` and
+ * use `DefaultCatalogCollatorFactory` instead.
  */
 export class DefaultCatalogCollator {
   protected discovery: PluginEndpointDiscovery;