diff --git a/lib/ci.js b/lib/ci.js
index d5b5c15442512..04b2984a9ac0a 100644
--- a/lib/ci.js
+++ b/lib/ci.js
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ function ci (args, cb) {
     dirPacker: pack.packGitDep
   }
 
+  if (npm.config.get('dev')) {
+    log.warn('ci', 'Usage of the `--dev` option is deprecated. Use `--also=dev` instead.')
+  }
+
   for (const key in npm.config.list[0]) {
     if (!['log', 'cache'].includes(key)) {
       opts[key] = npm.config.list[0][key]
diff --git a/lib/install.js b/lib/install.js
index ef492063b3a46..082eda5165e3f 100644
--- a/lib/install.js
+++ b/lib/install.js
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ function install (where, args, cb) {
   var dryrun = !!npm.config.get('dry-run')
 
   if (npm.config.get('dev')) {
-    log.warn('install', 'Usage of the `--dev` option is deprecated. Use `--only=dev` instead.')
+    log.warn('install', 'Usage of the `--dev` option is deprecated. Use `--also=dev` instead.')
   }
 
   if (where === globalTop && !args.length) {