diff --git a/libgit2-sys/lib.rs b/libgit2-sys/lib.rs
index 5b7ae56bd8..7e1ac1e998 100644
--- a/libgit2-sys/lib.rs
+++ b/libgit2-sys/lib.rs
@@ -4115,8 +4115,12 @@ extern "C" {
         priority: c_int,
     ) -> c_int;
 
+    #[deprecated(note = "only kept for compatibility; prefer git_odb_backend_data_alloc")]
     pub fn git_odb_backend_malloc(backend: *mut git_odb_backend, len: size_t) -> *mut c_void;
 
+    pub fn git_odb_backend_data_alloc(backend: *mut git_odb_backend, len: size_t) -> *mut c_void;
+    pub fn git_odb_backend_data_free(backend: *mut git_odb_backend, data: *mut c_void);
+
     pub fn git_odb_num_backends(odb: *mut git_odb) -> size_t;
     pub fn git_odb_get_backend(
         backend: *mut *mut git_odb_backend,