diff --git a/lib/javascript-static.js b/lib/javascript-static.js
index 1c1e19ccec7..cb5a6f91aab 100644
--- a/lib/javascript-static.js
+++ b/lib/javascript-static.js
@@ -1482,12 +1482,14 @@ function update_progress_bar (id, width, pt, msg, es){
 
 /**
  * Used in a couple of modules to hide navigation areas when using AJAX
+ * @deprecated since Moodle 2.7. This function will be removed in Moodle 2.9.
  */
 function hide_item(itemid) {
-    // use class='hiddenifjs' instead
-    var item = document.getElementById(itemid);
+    Y.log('hide_item has been deprecated since Moodle 2.7 and will be removed in Moodle 2.9',
+            'warn', 'javascript-static.js');
+    var item = Y.one('#' + itemid);
     if (item) {
-        item.style.display = "none";
+        item.hide();
     }
 }