diff --git a/lib/datasource/npm.js b/lib/datasource/npm.js
index 44de3247c9f5e8dc1799dc5be0994dccccb0a2aa..00fbc37abb3221e5c021438eb74f0b1f907379a8 100644
--- a/lib/datasource/npm.js
+++ b/lib/datasource/npm.js
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ async function getDependency(name, retries = 5) {
       'renovate-config': latestVersion['renovate-config'],
     };
     Object.keys(dep.versions).forEach(version => {
-      if (dep.versions[version].deprecated) {
+      if (dep.versions[version].deprecated === 'this') {
         delete dep.versions[version];
       } else {
         // We don't use any of the version payload currently