diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
index 190fc500068c8f..e9ae54811a21bc 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ let
       inherit (hostPlatform)
         isDarwin isLinux isSunOS isHurd isCygwin isFreeBSD isOpenBSD
         isi686 isx86_64 is64bit isAarch32 isAarch64 isMips isBigEndian;
+      isArm = builtins.trace "stdenv.isArm is deprecated after 18.03" hostPlatform.isArm;
 
       # Whether we should run paxctl to pax-mark binaries.
       needsPax = isLinux;