diff --git a/include/fmt/format.h b/include/fmt/format.h
index d0aadf34..cdb9f91a 100644
--- a/include/fmt/format.h
+++ b/include/fmt/format.h
@@ -2835,8 +2835,9 @@ inline auto format(const Locale& loc, format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args)
 }
 
 template <typename... T, size_t SIZE, typename Allocator>
-inline auto format_to(basic_memory_buffer<char, SIZE, Allocator>& buf,
-                      format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args) -> appender {
+FMT_DEPRECATED auto format_to(basic_memory_buffer<char, SIZE, Allocator>& buf,
+                              format_string<T...> fmt, T&&... args)
+    -> appender {
   detail::vformat_to(buf, string_view(fmt), fmt::make_format_args(args...));
   return appender(buf);
 }
diff --git a/test/format-test.cc b/test/format-test.cc
index 83efd054..84d503ec 100644
--- a/test/format-test.cc
+++ b/test/format-test.cc
@@ -1534,7 +1534,7 @@ TEST(format_test, format_examples) {
   EXPECT_EQ("42", fmt::format("{}", 42));
 
   memory_buffer out;
-  format_to(out, "The answer is {}.", 42);
+  format_to(std::back_inserter(out), "The answer is {}.", 42);
   EXPECT_EQ("The answer is 42.", to_string(out));
 
   const char* filename = "nonexistent";
@@ -1662,8 +1662,8 @@ TEST(format_test, join_bytes) {
 #endif
 
 std::string vformat_message(int id, const char* format, fmt::format_args args) {
-  fmt::memory_buffer buffer;
-  format_to(buffer, "[{}] ", id);
+  auto buffer = fmt::memory_buffer();
+  format_to(fmt::appender(buffer), "[{}] ", id);
   vformat_to(fmt::appender(buffer), format, args);
   return to_string(buffer);
 }
@@ -1892,7 +1892,7 @@ TEST(format_test, format_to) {
 
 TEST(format_test, format_to_memory_buffer) {
   auto buf = fmt::basic_memory_buffer<char, 100>();
-  fmt::format_to(buf, "{}", "foo");
+  fmt::format_to(fmt::appender(buf), "{}", "foo");
   EXPECT_EQ("foo", to_string(buf));
 }