diff --git a/doc/whats-new.rst b/doc/whats-new.rst
index 102a64af433..2722ca0b38a 100644
--- a/doc/whats-new.rst
+++ b/doc/whats-new.rst
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ Deprecations
   currently ``PendingDeprecationWarning``, which are silenced by default. We'll
   convert these to ``DeprecationWarning`` in a future release.
   By `Maximilian Roos <https://github.com/max-sixty>`_.
+- :py:meth:`Dataset.drop` &
+  :py:meth:`DataArray.drop` are now deprecated, since pending deprecation for
+  several years. :py:meth:`DataArray.drop_sel` & :py:meth:`DataArray.drop_var`
+  replace them for labels & variables respectively.
 
 Bug fixes
 ~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/xarray/core/dataset.py b/xarray/core/dataset.py
index d010bfbade0..b8093d3dd78 100644
--- a/xarray/core/dataset.py
+++ b/xarray/core/dataset.py
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
     decode_numpy_dict_values,
     drop_dims_from_indexers,
     either_dict_or_kwargs,
+    emit_user_level_warning,
     infix_dims,
     is_dict_like,
     is_scalar,
@@ -5944,10 +5945,9 @@ def drop(
             raise ValueError('errors must be either "raise" or "ignore"')
 
         if is_dict_like(labels) and not isinstance(labels, dict):
-            warnings.warn(
-                "dropping coordinates using `drop` is be deprecated; use drop_vars.",
-                FutureWarning,
-                stacklevel=2,
+            emit_user_level_warning(
+                "dropping coordinates using `drop` is deprecated; use drop_vars.",
+                DeprecationWarning,
             )
             return self.drop_vars(labels, errors=errors)
 
@@ -5957,10 +5957,9 @@ def drop(
             labels = either_dict_or_kwargs(labels, labels_kwargs, "drop")
 
         if dim is None and (is_scalar(labels) or isinstance(labels, Iterable)):
-            warnings.warn(
-                "dropping variables using `drop` will be deprecated; using drop_vars is encouraged.",
-                PendingDeprecationWarning,
-                stacklevel=2,
+            emit_user_level_warning(
+                "dropping variables using `drop` is deprecated; use drop_vars.",
+                DeprecationWarning,
             )
             return self.drop_vars(labels, errors=errors)
         if dim is not None:
@@ -5972,10 +5971,9 @@ def drop(
             )
             return self.drop_sel({dim: labels}, errors=errors, **labels_kwargs)
 
-        warnings.warn(
-            "dropping labels using `drop` will be deprecated; using drop_sel is encouraged.",
-            PendingDeprecationWarning,
-            stacklevel=2,
+        emit_user_level_warning(
+            "dropping labels using `drop` is deprecated; use `drop_sel` instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning,
         )
         return self.drop_sel(labels, errors=errors)
 
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_dataset.py b/xarray/tests/test_dataset.py
index a53d81e36af..37ddcf2786a 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_dataset.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_dataset.py
@@ -2651,19 +2651,19 @@ def test_drop_variables(self) -> None:
 
         # deprecated approach with `drop` works (straight copy paste from above)
 
-        with pytest.warns(PendingDeprecationWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             actual = data.drop("not_found_here", errors="ignore")
         assert_identical(data, actual)
 
-        with pytest.warns(PendingDeprecationWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             actual = data.drop(["not_found_here"], errors="ignore")
         assert_identical(data, actual)
 
-        with pytest.warns(PendingDeprecationWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             actual = data.drop(["time", "not_found_here"], errors="ignore")
         assert_identical(expected, actual)
 
-        with pytest.warns(PendingDeprecationWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             actual = data.drop({"time", "not_found_here"}, errors="ignore")
         assert_identical(expected, actual)
 
@@ -2736,9 +2736,9 @@ def test_drop_labels_by_keyword(self) -> None:
         ds5 = data.drop_sel(x=["a", "b"], y=range(0, 6, 2))
 
         arr = DataArray(range(3), dims=["c"])
-        with pytest.warns(FutureWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             data.drop(arr.coords)
-        with pytest.warns(FutureWarning):
+        with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning):
             data.drop(arr.xindexes)
 
         assert_array_equal(ds1.coords["x"], ["b"])