diff --git a/typo3/sysext/core/Documentation/Changelog/master/Deprecation-78679-CrawlerInclusionViaRequire_onceInIndexedSearch.rst b/typo3/sysext/core/Documentation/Changelog/master/Deprecation-78679-CrawlerInclusionViaRequire_onceInIndexedSearch.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4d9abf25973ed4906757c4e15998d0fd2c23b4e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/typo3/sysext/core/Documentation/Changelog/master/Deprecation-78679-CrawlerInclusionViaRequire_onceInIndexedSearch.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+.. include:: ../../Includes.txt
+
+==========================================================================
+Deprecation: #78679 - Crawler inclusion via require_once in Indexed Search
+==========================================================================
+
+See :issue:`78679`
+
+Description
+===========
+
+The system extension "Indexed Search" has support for EXT:crawler, by using the crawler library
+to index a page.
+
+This functionality is done under the hood via the Indexer class, which does a manual PHP call on
+"require_once" - code which is not necessary anymore, since the TYPO3 Core class loader. The public
+PHP method `TYPO3\CMS\IndexedSearch\Indexer->includeCrawlerClass()` is therefore marked as
+deprecated.
+
+
+Impact
+======
+
+Calling the method `TYPO3\CMS\IndexedSearch\Indexer->includeCrawlerClass()` will trigger a
+deprecation log message.
+
+
+Affected Installations
+======================
+
+Any TYPO3 installation with a custom indexer written in PHP, and Indexed Search and Crawler
+installed, and the custom indexer using the method call above.
+
+
+Migration
+=========
+
+Remove the function call, as TYPO3 includes the PHP class automatically.
+
+.. index:: ext:indexed_search, PHP-API
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/typo3/sysext/indexed_search/Classes/Indexer.php b/typo3/sysext/indexed_search/Classes/Indexer.php
index f6e5557ea5792c7dc18207c5f5da80184b48e395..a9afc00a3b23c81b8e6d719747a067765f7a780a 100644
--- a/typo3/sysext/indexed_search/Classes/Indexer.php
+++ b/typo3/sysext/indexed_search/Classes/Indexer.php
@@ -766,7 +766,6 @@ class Indexer
         // Get links:
         $list = $this->extractHyperLinks($content);
         if ($this->indexerConfig['useCrawlerForExternalFiles'] && \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::isLoaded('crawler')) {
-            $this->includeCrawlerClass();
             $crawler = GeneralUtility::makeInstance(\tx_crawler_lib::class);
         }
         // Traverse links:
@@ -2098,9 +2097,11 @@ class Indexer
      * Includes the crawler class
      *
      * @return void
+     * @deprecated since TYPO3 v8, will be removed in TYPO3 v9, autoloader is taking care of that functionality
      */
     public function includeCrawlerClass()
     {
+        GeneralUtility::logDeprecatedFunction();
         require_once \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\ExtensionManagementUtility::extPath('crawler') . 'class.tx_crawler_lib.php';
     }