diff --git a/.changeset/deprecate-nav-item-blueprint.md b/.changeset/deprecate-nav-item-blueprint.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..adb4f051dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/deprecate-nav-item-blueprint.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/frontend-plugin-api': patch
+---
+
+Deprecated `NavItemBlueprint`. Nav items are now automatically inferred from `PageBlueprint` extensions based on their `title` and `icon` params.
diff --git a/packages/frontend-plugin-api/report.api.md b/packages/frontend-plugin-api/report.api.md
index c91ec89fed..2a451f80e1 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-plugin-api/report.api.md
+++ b/packages/frontend-plugin-api/report.api.md
@@ -1470,7 +1470,7 @@ export const microsoftAuthApiRef: ApiRef<
     SessionApi
 >;
 
-// @public
+// @public @deprecated
 export const NavItemBlueprint: ExtensionBlueprint_2<{
   kind: 'nav-item';
   params: {
diff --git a/packages/frontend-plugin-api/src/blueprints/NavItemBlueprint.ts b/packages/frontend-plugin-api/src/blueprints/NavItemBlueprint.ts
index ce59a9439b..057bb7ca54 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-plugin-api/src/blueprints/NavItemBlueprint.ts
+++ b/packages/frontend-plugin-api/src/blueprints/NavItemBlueprint.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ const targetDataRef = createExtensionDataRef<{
  * Creates extensions that make up the items of the nav bar.
  *
  * @public
+ * @deprecated Nav items are now automatically inferred from `PageBlueprint`
+ * extensions based on their `title` and `icon` params. You can remove your
+ * `NavItemBlueprint` usage and instead pass `title` and `icon` directly to
+ * the `PageBlueprint`.
  */
 export const NavItemBlueprint = createExtensionBlueprint({
   kind: 'nav-item',