diff --git a/changelog.d/3206.deprecation.rst b/changelog.d/3206.deprecation.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ad90f37c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/3206.deprecation.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Changed ``setuptools.convert_path`` to an internal function that is not exposed
+as part of setuptools API.
+Future releases of ``setuptools`` are likely to remove this function.
diff --git a/setuptools/__init__.py b/setuptools/__init__.py
index 187e7329f2..502d2a2e12 100644
--- a/setuptools/__init__.py
+++ b/setuptools/__init__.py
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@
 import functools
 import os
 import re
+import warnings
 
 import _distutils_hack.override  # noqa: F401
 
 import distutils.core
 from distutils.errors import DistutilsOptionError
+from distutils.util import convert_path as _convert_path
 
 from ._deprecation_warning import SetuptoolsDeprecationWarning
 
@@ -158,6 +160,19 @@ def findall(dir=os.curdir):
     return list(files)
 
 
+@functools.wraps(_convert_path)
+def convert_path(pathname):
+    from inspect import cleandoc
+
+    msg = """
+    The function `convert_path` is considered internal and not part of the public API.
+    Its direct usage by 3rd-party packages is considered deprecated and the function
+    may be removed in the future.
+    """
+    warnings.warn(cleandoc(msg), SetuptoolsDeprecationWarning)
+    return _convert_path(pathname)
+
+
 class sic(str):
     """Treat this string as-is (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic)"""
 
diff --git a/setuptools/tests/test_setuptools.py b/setuptools/tests/test_setuptools.py
index b97faf17bc..0640f49da1 100644
--- a/setuptools/tests/test_setuptools.py
+++ b/setuptools/tests/test_setuptools.py
@@ -303,3 +303,8 @@ def test_its_own_wheel_does_not_contain_tests(setuptools_wheel):
 
     for member in contents:
         assert '/tests/' not in member
+
+
+def test_convert_path_deprecated():
+    with pytest.warns(setuptools.SetuptoolsDeprecationWarning):
+        setuptools.convert_path('setuptools/tests')