diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/223-add-deprecation-notice.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/223-add-deprecation-notice.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c3b7ac64d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/223-add-deprecation-notice.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+bugfixes:
+  - k8s_exec - add missing deprecation notice to return_code for k8s_exec (https://github.com/ansible-collections/kubernetes.core/pull/233).
diff --git a/plugins/modules/k8s_exec.py b/plugins/modules/k8s_exec.py
index bdb8418ddd..3ce10d0f94 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/k8s_exec.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/k8s_exec.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   - "PyYAML >= 3.11"
 
 notes:
-  - Return code C(rc) for the command executed is added in output in version 2.3.0, and depricates return code C(return_code).
+  - Return code C(rc) for the command executed is added in output in version 2.2.0, and deprecates return code C(return_code).
   - Return code C(return_code) for the command executed is added in output in version 1.0.0.
   - The authenticated user must have at least read access to the pods resource and write access to the pods/exec resource.
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
        type: int
        version_added: 2.3.0
      return_code:
-       description: The command status code. This attribute is depricated and will remove in future release. Please use rc instead.
+       description: The command status code. This attribute is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Please use rc instead.
        type: int
 '''
 
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ def execute_module(module, k8s_ansible_mixin):
     else:
         rc = int(err['details']['causes'][0]['message'])
 
+    module.deprecate("The 'return_code' return key is deprecated. Please use 'rc' instead.", version="4.0.0", collection_name="kubernetes.core")
     module.exit_json(
         # Some command might change environment, but ultimately failing at end
         changed=True,