diff --git a/include/cantera/base/stringUtils.h b/include/cantera/base/stringUtils.h
index 9cfd09d0c..953e29fc0 100644
--- a/include/cantera/base/stringUtils.h
+++ b/include/cantera/base/stringUtils.h
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ std::string wrapString(const std::string& s,
  *  @param str On output 'str' contains the same characters as on input except
  *             the leading and trailing white space and comments have been
  *             removed.
+ *  @deprecated
  */
 int stripLTWScstring(char str[]);
 
diff --git a/src/base/stringUtils.cpp b/src/base/stringUtils.cpp
index 92a6fedcc..d339fc10c 100644
--- a/src/base/stringUtils.cpp
+++ b/src/base/stringUtils.cpp
@@ -328,6 +328,7 @@ std::string parseSpeciesName(const std::string& nameStr, std::string& phaseName)
 
 int stripLTWScstring(char str[])
 {
+    warn_deprecated("stripLTWScstring");
     int  i = 0, j = 0;
     char ch;
     const char COM_CHAR='\0';