diff --git a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/search.rb b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/search.rb
index 04c7579d7..8055e38b1 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/parser/functions/search.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/parser/functions/search.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 Puppet::Parser::Functions::newfunction(:search, :arity => -2, :doc => "Add another namespace for this class to search.
     This allows you to create classes with sets of definitions and add
-    those classes to another class's search path.") do |vals|
+    those classes to another class's search path.
+
+    Deprecated in Puppet 3.7.0, to be removed in Puppet 4.0.0.") do |vals|
+
+    Puppet.deprecation_warning("The 'search' function is deprecated. See http://links.puppetlabs.com/search-function-deprecation")
+
     vals.each do |val|
       add_namespace(val)
     end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/parser/functions/search_spec.rb b/spec/unit/parser/functions/search_spec.rb
index b2c042b04..54054bd6a 100755
--- a/spec/unit/parser/functions/search_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/parser/functions/search_spec.rb
@@ -1,23 +1,28 @@
 #! /usr/bin/env ruby
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe "the 'search' function" do
   before :all do
     Puppet::Parser::Functions.autoloader.loadall
   end
 
   let :node     do Puppet::Node.new('localhost') end
   let :compiler do Puppet::Parser::Compiler.new(node) end
   let :scope    do Puppet::Parser::Scope.new(compiler) end
 
   it "should exist" do
     Puppet::Parser::Functions.function("search").should == "function_search"
   end
 
   it "should invoke #add_namespace on the scope for all inputs" do
     scope.expects(:add_namespace).with("where")
     scope.expects(:add_namespace).with("what")
     scope.expects(:add_namespace).with("who")
     scope.function_search(["where", "what", "who"])
   end
+
+  it "is deprecated" do
+    Puppet.expects(:deprecation_warning).with("The 'search' function is deprecated. See http://links.puppetlabs.com/search-function-deprecation")
+    scope.function_search(['wat'])
+  end
 end