diff --git a/packages/ember/index.js b/packages/ember/index.js
index b3a0231a015..711a0b2b0b8 100644
--- a/packages/ember/index.js
+++ b/packages/ember/index.js
@@ -190,7 +190,19 @@ Ember.canInvoke = utils.canInvoke;
 Ember.tryInvoke = utils.tryInvoke;
 Ember.wrap = utils.wrap;
 Ember.uuid = utils.uuid;
-Ember.NAME_KEY = utils.NAME_KEY;
+
+Object.defineProperty(Ember, 'NAME_KEY', {
+  enumerable: false,
+  get() {
+    deprecate('Using `Ember.NAME_KEY` is deprecated, override `.toString` instead', false, {
+      id: 'ember-name-key-usage',
+      until: '3.9.0',
+    });
+
+    return utils.NAME_KEY;
+  },
+});
+
 Ember._Cache = utils.Cache;
 
 // ****@ember/-internals/container****
diff --git a/packages/ember/tests/reexports_test.js b/packages/ember/tests/reexports_test.js
index 216b3616fbe..e0eb8e597a7 100644
--- a/packages/ember/tests/reexports_test.js
+++ b/packages/ember/tests/reexports_test.js
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ moduleFor(
       }, /EXTEND_PROTOTYPES is deprecated/);
     }
 
+    ['@test Ember.NAME_KEY is deprecated']() {
+      expectDeprecation(() => {
+        Ember.NAME_KEY;
+      }, 'Using `Ember.NAME_KEY` is deprecated, override `.toString` instead');
+    }
+
     '@test Ember.FEATURES is exported'(assert) {
       for (let feature in FEATURES) {
         assert.equal(
@@ -65,7 +71,6 @@ let allExports = [
   ['canInvoke', '@ember/-internals/utils'],
   ['tryInvoke', '@ember/-internals/utils'],
   ['wrap', '@ember/-internals/utils'],
-  ['NAME_KEY', '@ember/-internals/utils'],
 
   // @ember/-internals/container
   ['Registry', '@ember/-internals/container', 'Registry'],