diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/ContentFile.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/ContentFile.java
index 9db19f41ebfb..a4d97fa93fa1 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/ContentFile.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/ContentFile.java
@@ -51,9 +51,19 @@ default String manifestLocation() {
    */
   FileContent content();
 
-  /** Returns fully qualified path to the file, suitable for constructing a Hadoop Path. */
+  /**
+   * Returns fully qualified path to the file, suitable for constructing a Hadoop Path.
+   *
+   * @deprecated since 1.7.0, will be removed in 2.0.0; use {@link #location()} instead.
+   */
+  @Deprecated
   CharSequence path();
 
+  /** Return the fully qualified path to the file. */
+  default String location() {
+    return path().toString();
+  }
+
   /** Returns format of the file. */
   FileFormat format();