diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/flags/flags.go b/internal/app/wwctl/flags/flags.go
index e0440b81..893707d7 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/flags/flags.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/flags/flags.go
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ import (
 func AddContainer(cmd *cobra.Command, dest *string) {
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(dest, "container", "C", "", "Set image name (backwards-compatibility)")
 	cmd.Flags().Lookup("container").Hidden = true
+	if err := cmd.Flags().MarkDeprecated("container", "use --image instead"); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
 }
 
 func AddWwinit(cmd *cobra.Command, dest *[]string) {