diff --git a/pkg/api/annotation_key_constants.go b/pkg/api/annotation_key_constants.go
index 0d41438191f..e935424462b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/annotation_key_constants.go
+++ b/pkg/api/annotation_key_constants.go
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ const (
 
 	// CreatedByAnnotation represents the key used to store the spec(json)
 	// used to create the resource.
+	// This field is deprecated in favor of ControllerRef (see #44407).
+	// TODO(#50720): Remove this field in v1.9.
 	CreatedByAnnotation = "kubernetes.io/created-by"
 
 	// PreferAvoidPodsAnnotationKey represents the key of preferAvoidPods data (json serialized)
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/annotation_key_constants.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/annotation_key_constants.go
index 6c5deb65fd3..e623913fdd1 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/annotation_key_constants.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1/annotation_key_constants.go
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ const (
 
 	// CreatedByAnnotation represents the key used to store the spec(json)
 	// used to create the resource.
+	// This field is deprecated in favor of ControllerRef (see #44407).
+	// TODO(#50720): Remove this field in v1.9.
 	CreatedByAnnotation = "kubernetes.io/created-by"
 
 	// PreferAvoidPodsAnnotationKey represents the key of preferAvoidPods data (json serialized)