diff --git a/contrib/mkimage-busybox.sh b/contrib/mkimage-busybox.sh
index c1bb88c350..cbaa567834 100755
--- a/contrib/mkimage-busybox.sh
+++ b/contrib/mkimage-busybox.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # Generate a very minimal filesystem based on busybox-static,
 # and load it into the local docker under the name "busybox".
 
+echo >&2
+echo >&2 'warning: this script is deprecated - see mkimage.sh and mkimage/busybox-static'
+echo >&2
+
 BUSYBOX=$(which busybox)
 [ "$BUSYBOX" ] || {
     echo "Sorry, I could not locate busybox."
diff --git a/contrib/mkimage-debootstrap.sh b/contrib/mkimage-debootstrap.sh
index 613066e16b..808f393549 100755
--- a/contrib/mkimage-debootstrap.sh
+++ b/contrib/mkimage-debootstrap.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -e
 
+echo >&2
+echo >&2 'warning: this script is deprecated - see mkimage.sh and mkimage/debootstrap'
+echo >&2
+
 variant='minbase'
 include='iproute,iputils-ping'
 arch='amd64' # intentionally undocumented for now
diff --git a/contrib/mkimage-rinse.sh b/contrib/mkimage-rinse.sh
index dfe9999d92..0692ae1794 100755
--- a/contrib/mkimage-rinse.sh
+++ b/contrib/mkimage-rinse.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 
 set -e
 
+echo >&2
+echo >&2 'warning: this script is deprecated - see mkimage.sh and mkimage/rinse'
+echo >&2
+
 repo="$1"
 distro="$2"
 mirror="$3"