diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index 345edf60b..3c834eef4 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Summary
 3.4.      Userlists
 3.5.      Peers
 3.6.      Mailers
-3.7.      Programs
+3.7.      Programs (deprecated)
 3.8.      HTTP-errors
 3.9.      Rings
 3.10.     Log forwarding
@@ -4763,8 +4763,14 @@ timeout mail <time>
         timeout mail 20s
         mailer smtp1 192.168.0.1:587
 
-3.7. Programs
--------------
+3.7. Programs (deprecated)
+--------------------------
+
+This section is deprecated and should disappear with HAProxy 3.3. The section
+could be replaced easily by separated process managers. Systemd unit files or
+sysvinit scripts could replace this section as they are more reliable. In docker
+environments, some alternatives can also be found such as s6 or supervisord.
+
 In master-worker mode, it is possible to launch external binaries with the
 master, these processes are called programs. These programs are launched and
 managed the same way as the workers.
diff --git a/src/mworker-prog.c b/src/mworker-prog.c
index 8e6bb3e76..88ff1fc9f 100644
--- a/src/mworker-prog.c
+++ b/src/mworker-prog.c
@@ -194,6 +194,10 @@ int cfg_parse_program(const char *file, int linenum, char **args, int kwm)
 			goto error;
 		}
 
+		ha_warning("parsing [%s:%d]: The '%s' section is deprecated and will eventually be removed, please consider "
+		           "using a process manager instead, such as sysvinit, systemd, supervisord or s6\n",
+		           file, linenum, args[0]);
+
 		LIST_APPEND(&proc_list, &ext_child->list);
 
 	} else if (strcmp(args[0], "command") == 0) {