diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d10ab6da96..32542ecd27 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -115,11 +115,6 @@ option(LLAMA_TESTS_INSTALL  "llama: install tests"        ON)
 option(LLAMA_OPENSSL    "llama: use openssl to support HTTPS" ON)
 option(LLAMA_LLGUIDANCE "llama-common: include LLGuidance library for structured output in common utils" OFF)
 
-# deprecated
-option(LLAMA_CURL "llama: use libcurl to download model from an URL" OFF)
-if (LLAMA_CURL)
-    message(WARNING "LLAMA_CURL option is deprecated and will be ignored")
-endif()
 
 # Required for relocatable CMake package
 include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/build-info.cmake)
@@ -147,10 +142,15 @@ if (NOT DEFINED GGML_CUDA_GRAPHS)
 endif()
 
 # transition helpers
-function (llama_option_depr TYPE OLD NEW)
+function (llama_option_depr TYPE OLD)
     if (${OLD})
-        message(${TYPE} "${OLD} is deprecated and will be removed in the future.\nUse ${NEW} instead\n")
-        set(${NEW} ON PARENT_SCOPE)
+        set(NEW "${ARGV2}")
+        if(NEW)
+            message(${TYPE} "${OLD} is deprecated, use ${NEW} instead")
+            set(${NEW} ON PARENT_SCOPE)
+        else()
+            message(${TYPE} "${OLD} is deprecated and will be ignored")
+        endif()
     endif()
 endfunction()
 
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ llama_option_depr(WARNING     LLAMA_RPC                 GGML_RPC)
 llama_option_depr(WARNING     LLAMA_SYCL                GGML_SYCL)
 llama_option_depr(WARNING     LLAMA_SYCL_F16            GGML_SYCL_F16)
 llama_option_depr(WARNING     LLAMA_CANN                GGML_CANN)
+llama_option_depr(WARNING     LLAMA_CURL)
 
 include("cmake/license.cmake")
 license_add_file("llama.cpp" "LICENSE")