diff --git a/include/openPMD/binding/c/auxiliary/deprecate.h b/include/openPMD/binding/c/auxiliary/deprecate.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6bc1f9328
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/openPMD/binding/c/auxiliary/deprecate.h
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#ifndef OPENPMD_DEPRECATE_H
+#define OPENPMD_DEPRECATE_H
+
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+#define OPENPMD_DEPRECATED __attribute__((deprecated))
+#else
+#define OPENPMD_DEPRECATED
+#endif
+
+#endif
diff --git a/include/openPMD/binding/c/version.h b/include/openPMD/binding/c/version.h
index a8c2f014c4..e1f63dcf5a 100644
--- a/include/openPMD/binding/c/version.h
+++ b/include/openPMD/binding/c/version.h
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef OPENPMD_VERSION_H
 #define OPENPMD_VERSION_H
 
+#include "openPMD/binding/c/auxiliary/deprecate.h"
+
 #include <stdbool.h>
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
@@ -22,8 +24,10 @@ extern "C"
     extern const int openPMD_standard_min_patch;
 
     const char *openPMD_getVersion();
-    const char *openPMD_getStandard();
+    const char *OPENPMD_DEPRECATED openPMD_getStandard();
     const char *openPMD_getStandardMinimum();
+    const char *openPMD_getStandardDefault();
+    const char *openPMD_getStandardMaximum();
 
     typedef struct openPMD_Variant
     {
diff --git a/src/binding/c/version.cpp b/src/binding/c/version.cpp
index f2b17aa907..a1b6270b7f 100644
--- a/src/binding/c/version.cpp
+++ b/src/binding/c/version.cpp
@@ -26,7 +26,19 @@ const char *openPMD_getVersion()
 
 const char *openPMD_getStandard()
 {
-    static const std::string standard = openPMD::getStandard();
+    static const std::string standard = openPMD::getStandardMaximum();
+    return standard.c_str();
+}
+
+const char *openPMD_getStandardDefault()
+{
+    static const std::string standard = openPMD::getStandardDefault();
+    return standard.c_str();
+}
+
+const char *openPMD_getStandardMaximum()
+{
+    static const std::string standard = openPMD::getStandardMaximum();
     return standard.c_str();
 }