diff --git a/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
index 5ab5818a6c1f..a7852bcc7e5d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/go-modules/generic/default.nix
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@
 # Not needed with buildGoModule
 , goPackagePath ? ""
 
+# needed for buildFlags warning
+, buildFlags ? ""
+
 , ... }@args':
 
 with builtins;
@@ -268,4 +271,6 @@ let
     };
   });
 in
+lib.warnIf (buildFlags != "")
+  "Use the `ldflags` and/or `tags` attributes instead of `buildFlags`"
   package
diff --git a/pkgs/development/go-packages/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/development/go-packages/generic/default.nix
index 6700dec082bc..6eaeee2a1230 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/go-packages/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/go-packages/generic/default.nix
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@
 
 , CGO_ENABLED ? go.CGO_ENABLED
 
+# needed for buildFlags warning
+, buildFlags ? ""
+
 , meta ? {}, ... } @ args:
 
 
@@ -257,4 +260,6 @@ let
     } // meta;
   });
 in
+lib.warnIf (buildFlags != "")
+  "Use the `ldflags` and/or `tags` attributes instead of `buildFlags`"
   package