diff --git a/src/wp-includes/deprecated.php b/src/wp-includes/deprecated.php
index db2a7d7e5c..8315702bab 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/deprecated.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/deprecated.php
@@ -3758,3 +3758,17 @@ function wp_embed_handler_googlevideo( $matches, $attr, $url, $rawattr ) {
 
 	return '';
 }
+
+/**
+ * Retrieve path of paged template in current or parent template.
+ *
+ * @since 1.5.0
+ * @deprecated 4.7.0 The paged.php template is no longer part of the theme template heirarchy.
+ *
+ * @return string Full path to paged template file.
+ */
+function get_paged_template() {
+	_deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '4.7.0' );
+
+	return get_query_template( 'paged' );
+}
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/template-loader.php b/src/wp-includes/template-loader.php
index 025f1a8479..1ee7c222c1 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/template-loader.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/template-loader.php
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ if ( defined('WP_USE_THEMES') && WP_USE_THEMES ) :
 	elseif ( is_author()         && $template = get_author_template()         ) :
 	elseif ( is_date()           && $template = get_date_template()           ) :
 	elseif ( is_archive()        && $template = get_archive_template()        ) :
-	elseif ( is_paged()          && $template = get_paged_template()          ) :
 	else :
 		$template = get_index_template();
 	endif;
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/template.php b/src/wp-includes/template.php
index 946732fac6..2a03a99e71 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/template.php
@@ -381,22 +381,6 @@ function get_page_template() {
 	return get_query_template( 'page', $templates );
 }
 
-/**
- * Retrieve path of paged template in current or parent template.
- *
- * The template hierarchy is filterable via the {@see 'paged_template_hierarchy'} hook.
- * The template path is filterable via the {@see 'paged_template'} hook.
- *
- * @since 1.5.0
- *
- * @see get_query_template()
- *
- * @return string Full path to paged template file.
- */
-function get_paged_template() {
-	return get_query_template('paged');
-}
-
 /**
  * Retrieve path of search template in current or parent template.
  *
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/theme.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/theme.php
index aeb6e3d469..62a88b998f 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/theme.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/theme.php
@@ -267,7 +267,6 @@ class Tests_Theme extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 				$this->assertEquals(get_date_template(), get_query_template('date'));
 				$this->assertEquals(get_home_template(), get_query_template('home', array('home.php','index.php')));
 				$this->assertEquals(get_page_template(), get_query_template('page'));
-				$this->assertEquals(get_paged_template(), get_query_template('paged'));
 				$this->assertEquals(get_search_template(), get_query_template('search'));
 				$this->assertEquals(get_single_template(), get_query_template('single'));
 				$this->assertEquals(get_attachment_template(), get_query_template('attachment'));