--- a/dpkg-deb/main.c
+++ b/dpkg-deb/main.c
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@
   if (compress_params.type == COMPRESSOR_TYPE_UNKNOWN)
     badusage(_("unknown compression type '%s'!"), value);
   if (compress_params.type == COMPRESSOR_TYPE_LZMA)
-    badusage(_("obsolete compression type '%s'; use xz instead"), value);
+    warning(_("obsolete compression type '%s'; use xz instead"), value);
   if (compress_params.type == COMPRESSOR_TYPE_BZIP2)
     badusage(_("obsolete compression type '%s'; use xz or gzip instead"), value);
 }