diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
index c661b2e1e4c..f5da7880710 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/default.nix
@@ -123,7 +123,9 @@ let
       inherit (hostPlatform)
         isDarwin isLinux isSunOS isCygwin isFreeBSD isOpenBSD
         isi686 isx86_64 is64bit isAarch32 isAarch64 isMips isBigEndian;
-      isArm = builtins.trace "stdenv.isArm is deprecated after 18.03" hostPlatform.isArm;
+      isArm = builtins.trace
+        "`stdenv.isArm` is deprecated after 18.03. Please use `stdenv.isAarch32` instead"
+        hostPlatform.isAarch32;
 
       # Whether we should run paxctl to pax-mark binaries.
       needsPax = isLinux;