diff --git a/datadog/fwprovider/data_source_datadog_application_key.go b/datadog/fwprovider/data_source_datadog_application_key.go
index 514696f5b4..2254b17a66 100644
--- a/datadog/fwprovider/data_source_datadog_application_key.go
+++ b/datadog/fwprovider/data_source_datadog_application_key.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Metadata(_ context.Context, req datasource.Me
 // Schema implements datasource.DataSource.
 func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Schema(_ context.Context, req datasource.SchemaRequest, resp *datasource.SchemaResponse) {
 	resp.Schema = schema.Schema{
-		Description: "Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key.",
+		Description: "Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key. Deprecated. This will be removed in a future release with prior notice. Securely store your application keys using a secret management system or use the datadog_application_key resource to manage application keys in your Datadog account.",
 		Attributes: map[string]schema.Attribute{
 			"id": schema.StringAttribute{
 				Description: "Id for Application Key.",
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Schema(_ context.Context, req datasource.Sche
 				Sensitive:   true,
 			},
 		},
+		DeprecationMessage: "The datadog_application_key data source is deprecated and will be removed in a future release with prior notice. Securely store your application key using a secret management system or use the datadog_application_key resource to manage application keys in your Datadog account.",
 	}
 }
 
@@ -79,8 +80,10 @@ func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Read(ctx context.Context, req datasource.Read
 			resp.Diagnostics.Append(utils.FrameworkErrorDiag(err, "error getting application key"))
 			return
 		}
-		apiKeyData := ddResp.GetData()
-		d.updateState(&state, &apiKeyData)
+		appKeyData := ddResp.GetData()
+		if !d.checkAPIDeprecated(&appKeyData, resp) {
+			d.updateState(&state, &appKeyData)
+		}
 	} else if !state.Name.IsNull() {
 		optionalParams := datadogV2.NewListCurrentUserApplicationKeysOptionalParameters()
 		optionalParams.WithFilter(state.Name.ValueString())
@@ -122,7 +125,9 @@ func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Read(ctx context.Context, req datasource.Read
 				resp.Diagnostics.AddError("your query returned no exact matches, please try a less specific search criteria", "")
 				return
 			}
-			d.updateState(&state, &applicationKeyData)
+			if !d.checkAPIDeprecated(&applicationKeyData, resp) {
+				d.updateState(&state, &applicationKeyData)
+			}
 		} else {
 			id := applicationKeysData[0].GetId()
 			applicationKeyResponse, _, err := d.Api.GetCurrentUserApplicationKey(d.Auth, id)
@@ -131,7 +136,9 @@ func (d *applicationKeyDataSource) Read(ctx context.Context, req datasource.Read
 				return
 			}
 			applicationKeyFullData := applicationKeyResponse.GetData()
-			d.updateState(&state, &applicationKeyFullData)
+			if !d.checkAPIDeprecated(&applicationKeyFullData, resp) {
+				d.updateState(&state, &applicationKeyFullData)
+			}
 		}
 	} else {
 		resp.Diagnostics.AddError("missing id or name parameter", "")
@@ -148,3 +155,12 @@ func (r *applicationKeyDataSource) updateState(state *applicationKeyDataSourceMo
 	state.Name = types.StringValue(applicationKeyAttributes.GetName())
 	state.Key = types.StringValue(applicationKeyAttributes.GetKey())
 }
+
+func (r *applicationKeyDataSource) checkAPIDeprecated(applicationKeyData *datadogV2.FullApplicationKey, resp *datasource.ReadResponse) bool {
+	applicationKeyAttributes := applicationKeyData.GetAttributes()
+	if !applicationKeyAttributes.HasKey() {
+		resp.Diagnostics.AddError("Deprecated", "The datadog_application_key data source is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Securely store your application key using a secret management system or use the datadog_application_key resource to manage application keys in your Datadog account.")
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/datadog/tests/data_source_datadog_application_key_test.go b/datadog/tests/data_source_datadog_application_key_test.go
index ec763a397c..54f995db1f 100644
--- a/datadog/tests/data_source_datadog_application_key_test.go
+++ b/datadog/tests/data_source_datadog_application_key_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_matchId(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, providers, accProviders := testAccFrameworkMuxProviders(context.Background(), t)
 
 	applicationKeyName := uniqueEntityName(ctx, t)
-	nonEmptyStringRegex := `[\S\s]+[\S]+`
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:                 func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		ProtoV5ProviderFactories: accProviders,
@@ -30,7 +29,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_matchId(t *testing.T) {
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_1", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 1", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_2", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 2", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 1", applicationKeyName)),
-					resource.TestMatchResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "key", regexp.MustCompile(nonEmptyStringRegex)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "id"),
 				),
 			},
@@ -46,7 +44,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_matchName(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, providers, accProviders := testAccFrameworkMuxProviders(context.Background(), t)
 	applicationKeyName := uniqueEntityName(ctx, t)
 
-	nonEmptyStringRegex := `[\S\s]+[\S]+`
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:                 func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		ProtoV5ProviderFactories: accProviders,
@@ -59,7 +56,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_matchName(t *testing.T) {
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_1", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 1", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_2", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 2", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 1", applicationKeyName)),
-					resource.TestMatchResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "key", regexp.MustCompile(nonEmptyStringRegex)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "id"),
 				),
 			},
@@ -70,7 +66,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_matchName(t *testing.T) {
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_1", "name", applicationKeyName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_2", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 2", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "name", applicationKeyName),
-					resource.TestMatchResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "key", regexp.MustCompile(nonEmptyStringRegex)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "id"),
 				),
 			},
@@ -86,7 +81,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_exactMatchName(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, providers, accProviders := testAccFrameworkMuxProviders(context.Background(), t)
 	applicationKeyName := uniqueEntityName(ctx, t)
 
-	nonEmptyStringRegex := `[\S\s]+[\S]+`
 	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
 		PreCheck:                 func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
 		ProtoV5ProviderFactories: accProviders,
@@ -99,7 +93,6 @@ func TestAccDatadogApplicationKeyDatasource_exactMatchName(t *testing.T) {
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_1", "name", applicationKeyName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("datadog_application_key.app_key_2", "name", fmt.Sprintf("%s 2", applicationKeyName)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "name", applicationKeyName),
-					resource.TestMatchResourceAttr("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "key", regexp.MustCompile(nonEmptyStringRegex)),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttrSet("data.datadog_application_key.app_key", "id"),
 				),
 			},
diff --git a/docs/data-sources/application_key.md b/docs/data-sources/application_key.md
index ab29c77b3f..35a2a76d6e 100644
--- a/docs/data-sources/application_key.md
+++ b/docs/data-sources/application_key.md
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 page_title: "datadog_application_key Data Source - terraform-provider-datadog"
 subcategory: ""
 description: |-
-  Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key.
+  Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key. Deprecated. This will be removed in a future release with prior notice. Securely store your application keys using a secret management system or use the datadogapplicationkey resource to manage application keys in your Datadog account.
 ---
 
 # datadog_application_key (Data Source)
 
-Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key.
+Use this data source to retrieve information about an existing application key. Deprecated. This will be removed in a future release with prior notice. Securely store your application keys using a secret management system or use the datadog_application_key resource to manage application keys in your Datadog account.
 
 ## Example Usage