diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 7164cf55a1..80934ad2c3 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2124,13 +2124,20 @@ S: Odd Fixes
 W: https://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/9p
 F: hw/9pfs/
 X: hw/9pfs/xen-9p*
+X: hw/9pfs/9p-proxy*
 F: fsdev/
-F: docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst
+X: fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
 F: tests/qtest/virtio-9p-test.c
 F: tests/qtest/libqos/virtio-9p*
 T: git https://gitlab.com/gkurz/qemu.git 9p-next
 T: git https://github.com/cschoenebeck/qemu.git 9p.next
 
+virtio-9p-proxy
+F: hw/9pfs/9p-proxy*
+F: fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
+F: docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst
+S: Obsolete
+
 virtio-blk
 M: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>
 L: qemu-block@nongnu.org
diff --git a/docs/about/deprecated.rst b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
index 0743459862..ddc1e48460 100644
--- a/docs/about/deprecated.rst
+++ b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
@@ -343,6 +343,29 @@ the addition of volatile memory support, it is now necessary to distinguish
 between persistent and volatile memory backends.  As such, memdev is deprecated
 in favor of persistent-memdev.
 
+``-fsdev proxy`` and ``-virtfs proxy`` (since 8.1)
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The 9p ``proxy`` filesystem backend driver has been deprecated and will be
+removed (along with its proxy helper daemon) in a future version of QEMU. Please
+use ``-fsdev local`` or ``-virtfs local`` for using the 9p ``local`` filesystem
+backend, or alternatively consider deploying virtiofsd instead.
+
+The 9p ``proxy`` backend was originally developed as an alternative to the 9p
+``local`` backend. The idea was to enhance security by dispatching actual low
+level filesystem operations from 9p server (QEMU process) over to a separate
+process (the virtfs-proxy-helper binary). However this alternative never gained
+momentum. The proxy backend is much slower than the local backend, hasn't seen
+any development in years, and showed to be less secure, especially due to the
+fact that its helper daemon must be run as root, whereas with the local backend
+QEMU is typically run as unprivileged user and allows to tighten behaviour by
+mapping permissions et al by using its 'mapped' security model option.
+
+Nowadays it would make sense to reimplement the ``proxy`` backend by using
+QEMU's ``vhost`` feature, which would eliminate the high latency costs under
+which the 9p ``proxy`` backend currently suffers. However as of to date nobody
+has indicated plans for such kind of reimplemention unfortunately.
+
 
 Block device options
 ''''''''''''''''''''
diff --git a/docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst b/docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst
index 6cdeedf8e9..bd310ebb07 100644
--- a/docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst
+++ b/docs/tools/virtfs-proxy-helper.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ Synopsis
 Description
 -----------
 
+NOTE: The 9p 'proxy' backend is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be
+removed, along with this daemon, in a future version of QEMU!
+
 Pass-through security model in QEMU 9p server needs root privilege to do
 few file operations (like chown, chmod to any mode/uid:gid).  There are two
 issues in pass-through security model:
diff --git a/fsdev/qemu-fsdev.c b/fsdev/qemu-fsdev.c
index 3da64e9f72..f5c953a710 100644
--- a/fsdev/qemu-fsdev.c
+++ b/fsdev/qemu-fsdev.c
@@ -133,6 +133,14 @@ int qemu_fsdev_add(QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
     }
 
     if (fsdriver) {
+        if (strncmp(fsdriver, "proxy", 5) == 0) {
+            warn_report(
+                "'-fsdev proxy' and '-virtfs proxy' are deprecated, use "
+                "'local' instead of 'proxy, or consider deploying virtiofsd "
+                "as alternative to 9p"
+            );
+        }
+
         for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(FsDrivers); i++) {
             if (strcmp(FsDrivers[i].name, fsdriver) == 0) {
                 break;
diff --git a/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c b/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
index d9511f429c..144aaf585a 100644
--- a/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
+++ b/fsdev/virtfs-proxy-helper.c
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
  * the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
  */
 
+/*
+ * NOTE: The 9p 'proxy' backend is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be
+ * removed in a future version of QEMU!
+ */
+
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include <glib/gstdio.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
@@ -1057,6 +1062,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     struct statfs st_fs;
 #endif
 
+    fprintf(stderr, "NOTE: The 9p 'proxy' backend is deprecated (since "
+                    "QEMU 8.1) and will be removed in a future version of "
+                    "QEMU!\n");
+
     prog_name = g_path_get_basename(argv[0]);
 
     is_daemon = true;
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c b/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c
index 99d115ff0d..905cae6992 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
  * https://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/9p
  */
 
+/*
+ * NOTE: The 9p 'proxy' backend is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be
+ * removed in a future version of QEMU!
+ */
+
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <sys/un.h>
diff --git a/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.h b/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.h
index b84301d001..9be4718d3e 100644
--- a/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.h
+++ b/hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.h
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@
  * the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
  */
 
+/*
+ * NOTE: The 9p 'proxy' backend is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be
+ * removed in a future version of QEMU!
+ */
+
 #ifndef QEMU_9P_PROXY_H
 #define QEMU_9P_PROXY_H
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index a9ba0bfab3..b82d5b7cd0 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -4179,7 +4179,7 @@ if have_block
   summary_info += {'Block whitelist (ro)': get_option('block_drv_ro_whitelist')}
   summary_info += {'Use block whitelist in tools': get_option('block_drv_whitelist_in_tools')}
   summary_info += {'VirtFS (9P) support':    have_virtfs}
-  summary_info += {'VirtFS (9P) Proxy Helper support': have_virtfs_proxy_helper}
+  summary_info += {'VirtFS (9P) Proxy Helper support (deprecated)': have_virtfs_proxy_helper}
   summary_info += {'Live block migration': config_host_data.get('CONFIG_LIVE_BLOCK_MIGRATION')}
   summary_info += {'replication support': config_host_data.get('CONFIG_REPLICATION')}
   summary_info += {'bochs support':     get_option('bochs').allowed()}
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index b57489d7ca..3a6c7d3ef9 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -1735,7 +1735,9 @@ SRST
         Accesses to the filesystem are done by QEMU.
 
     ``proxy``
-        Accesses to the filesystem are done by virtfs-proxy-helper(1).
+        Accesses to the filesystem are done by virtfs-proxy-helper(1). This
+        option is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be removed in a future
+        version of QEMU. Use ``local`` instead.
 
     ``synth``
         Synthetic filesystem, only used by QTests.
@@ -1867,6 +1869,8 @@ SRST
 
     ``proxy``
         Accesses to the filesystem are done by virtfs-proxy-helper(1).
+        This option is deprecated (since QEMU 8.1) and will be removed in a
+        future version of QEMU. Use ``local`` instead.
 
     ``synth``
         Synthetic filesystem, only used by QTests.