diff --git a/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka.go b/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka.go
index dccfefff294..f1d77e8cec1 100644
--- a/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka.go
+++ b/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka.go
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/go-kit/log"
 	"github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/component"
 	"github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/component/otelcol"
 	otelcolCfg "github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/component/otelcol/config"
 	"github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/component/otelcol/receiver"
 	"github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/featuregate"
+	"github.com/grafana/alloy/internal/runtime/logging/level"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/mapstructure"
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/pkg/kafka/configkafka"
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/kafkareceiver"
@@ -25,8 +27,10 @@ func init() {
 		Args:      Arguments{},
 
 		Build: func(opts component.Options, args component.Arguments) (component.Component, error) {
+			a := args.(Arguments)
+			a.logDeprecations(opts.Logger)
 			fact := kafkareceiver.NewFactory()
-			return receiver.New(opts, fact, args.(Arguments))
+			return receiver.New(opts, fact, a)
 		},
 	})
 }
@@ -145,6 +149,34 @@ type KafkaReceiverTopicEncodingConfig struct {
 	ExcludeTopics []string `alloy:"exclude_topics,attr,optional"`
 }
 
+func (args Arguments) logDeprecations(logger log.Logger) {
+	for _, signal := range []struct {
+		name string
+		cfg  KafkaReceiverTopicEncodingConfig
+	}{
+		{"logs", args.Logs},
+		{"metrics", args.Metrics},
+		{"traces", args.Traces},
+	} {
+		if signal.cfg.Topic != "" {
+			level.Warn(logger).Log("msg", "the topic attribute is deprecated and will be removed in a future release, use topics instead",
+				"signal", signal.name, "topic", signal.cfg.Topic)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (c KafkaReceiverTopicEncodingConfig) convert() kafkareceiver.TopicEncodingConfig {
+	topics := c.Topics
+	if c.Topic != "" {
+		topics = []string{c.Topic}
+	}
+	return kafkareceiver.TopicEncodingConfig{
+		Topics:        topics,
+		Encoding:      c.Encoding,
+		ExcludeTopics: c.ExcludeTopics,
+	}
+}
+
 type ErrorBackOffArguments struct {
 	Enabled             bool          `alloy:"enabled,attr,optional"`
 	InitialInterval     time.Duration `alloy:"initial_interval,attr,optional"`
@@ -206,32 +238,19 @@ func (args Arguments) Convert() (otelcomponent.Config, error) {
 	result.UseLeaderEpoch = args.UseLeaderEpoch
 	result.ErrorBackOff = *args.ErrorBackOff.Convert()
 
-	result.Logs = kafkareceiver.TopicEncodingConfig{
-		Topic:         args.Logs.Topic,
-		Topics:        args.Logs.Topics,
-		Encoding:      args.Logs.Encoding,
-		ExcludeTopics: args.Logs.ExcludeTopics,
-	}
-
-	result.Metrics = kafkareceiver.TopicEncodingConfig{
-		Topic:         args.Metrics.Topic,
-		Topics:        args.Metrics.Topics,
-		Encoding:      args.Metrics.Encoding,
-		ExcludeTopics: args.Metrics.ExcludeTopics,
-	}
-
-	result.Traces = kafkareceiver.TopicEncodingConfig{
-		Topic:         args.Traces.Topic,
-		Topics:        args.Traces.Topics,
-		Encoding:      args.Traces.Encoding,
-		ExcludeTopics: args.Traces.ExcludeTopics,
-	}
+	result.Logs = args.Logs.convert()
+	result.Metrics = args.Metrics.convert()
+	result.Traces = args.Traces.convert()
 
 	if args.TLS != nil {
 		tlsCfg := args.TLS.Convert()
 		result.TLS = tlsCfg
 	}
 
+	if err := result.Validate(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	return &result, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka_test.go b/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka_test.go
index 4effdc2f4d7..8125ce4bcd4 100644
--- a/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka_test.go
+++ b/internal/component/otelcol/receiver/kafka/kafka_test.go
@@ -598,6 +598,55 @@ func TestArguments_Auth(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDeprecatedTopicShouldBeMigratedToNewTopics(t *testing.T) {
+	// When using the deprecated per-signal `topic`
+	// (singular) field, the converted config should have
+	// the deprecated `topic` unset and the new `topics` set.
+	cfg := `
+		brokers = ["10.10.10.10:9092"]
+		protocol_version = "2.0.0"
+		logs {
+			topic    = "my_custom_logs_topic"
+			encoding = "otlp_json"
+		}
+		metrics {
+			topic    = "my_custom_metrics_topic"
+			encoding = "otlp_json"
+		}
+		traces {
+			topic    = "my_custom_traces_topic"
+			encoding = "otlp_json"
+		}
+		output {}
+	`
+
+	var args kafka.Arguments
+	err := syntax.Unmarshal([]byte(cfg), &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	otelCfg, err := args.Convert()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	converted := otelCfg.(*kafkareceiver.Config)
+	require.NoError(t, converted.Validate(), "converted config should be valid")
+
+	// The deprecated `topic` should be migrated into `topics`, matching upstream behavior.
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"my_custom_logs_topic"}, converted.Logs.Topics,
+		"deprecated logs.topic should be migrated to logs.topics")
+	require.Empty(t, converted.Logs.Topic,
+		"deprecated logs.topic should be cleared after migration")
+
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"my_custom_metrics_topic"}, converted.Metrics.Topics,
+		"deprecated metrics.topic should be migrated to metrics.topics")
+	require.Empty(t, converted.Metrics.Topic,
+		"deprecated metrics.topic should be cleared after migration")
+
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"my_custom_traces_topic"}, converted.Traces.Topics,
+		"deprecated traces.topic should be migrated to traces.topics")
+	require.Empty(t, converted.Traces.Topic,
+		"deprecated traces.topic should be cleared after migration")
+}
+
 func TestDebugMetricsConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		testName string