diff --git a/compat/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/Artifact.java b/compat/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/Artifact.java
index bbbdc14d8278..5ed61719ce51 100644
--- a/compat/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/Artifact.java
+++ b/compat/maven-artifact/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/Artifact.java
@@ -37,10 +37,18 @@
  */
 public interface Artifact extends Comparable<Artifact> {
 
-    @Deprecated(since = "4.0.0")
+    /**
+    * @deprecated since 3.0
+    * Use explicit version resolution instead of special version constants.
+    */
+    @Deprecated(since = "3.0")
     String RELEASE_VERSION = "RELEASE";
 
-    @Deprecated(since = "4.0.0")
+    /**
+    * @deprecated since 3.0
+    * Use a fixed version or an explicit version range instead of special version tokens.
+    */
+    @Deprecated(since = "3.0")
     String LATEST_VERSION = "LATEST";
 
     String SNAPSHOT_VERSION = "SNAPSHOT";