diff --git a/binCompatTest/src/main/scala/catsBC/MimaExceptions.scala b/binCompatTest/src/main/scala/catsBC/MimaExceptions.scala
index d76fcc94f3..8beaa353be 100644
--- a/binCompatTest/src/main/scala/catsBC/MimaExceptions.scala
+++ b/binCompatTest/src/main/scala/catsBC/MimaExceptions.scala
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 package catsBC
 import cats.implicits._
-import cats._, data._, cats.arrow._
 
 object MimaExceptions {
-  import cats.implicits._
+
+  def headOption[A](list: List[A]): Option[A] = list.headOption
+
+  import cats.arrow.FunctionK // needs to be imported because of a hygiene problem
 
   def isBinaryCompatible = (
-      Monad[OptionT[List, ?]],
+      cats.Monad[cats.data.OptionT[List, ?]],
       cats.data.OptionT.catsDataTraverseForOptionT[List],
       cats.data.Kleisli.catsDataCommutativeArrowForKleisliId,
       cats.data.OptionT.catsDataMonoidKForOptionT[List],
@@ -15,7 +17,8 @@ object MimaExceptions {
       cats.data.Kleisli.catsDataCommutativeArrowForKleisli[Option],
       cats.data.Kleisli.catsDataCommutativeFlatMapForKleisli[Option, Int],
       cats.data.IRWST.catsDataStrongForIRWST[List, Int, Int, Int],
-      cats.data.OptionT.catsDataMonadErrorMonadForOptionT[List]
+      cats.data.OptionT.catsDataMonadErrorMonadForOptionT[List],
+      FunctionK.lift(headOption)
   )
 
 }
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 1f5dc5bef7..2317950cc3 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -280,6 +280,12 @@ def mimaSettings(moduleName: String) = {
         exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("cats.data.KleisliInstances4.catsDataCommutativeFlatMapForKleisli"),
         exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("cats.data.IRWSTInstances1.catsDataStrongForIRWST"),
         exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("cats.data.OptionTInstances1.catsDataMonadErrorMonadForOptionT")
+      ) ++ // Only compile-time abstractions (macros) allowed here
+      Seq(
+        exclude[IncompatibleMethTypeProblem]("cats.arrow.FunctionKMacros.lift"),
+        exclude[MissingTypesProblem]("cats.arrow.FunctionKMacros$"),
+        exclude[IncompatibleMethTypeProblem]("cats.arrow.FunctionKMacros#Lifter.this"),
+        exclude[IncompatibleResultTypeProblem]("cats.arrow.FunctionKMacros#Lifter.c")
       )
     }
   )
@@ -516,10 +522,10 @@ lazy val binCompatTest = project
         else //We are not testing BC on Scala 2.13 yet.
           "org.typelevel" %% "cats-core" % version.value % Provided
       },
-      "org.typelevel" %% "cats-core" % version.value % Test,
       "org.scalatest" %%% "scalatest" % scalatestVersion(scalaVersion.value) % Test
     )
   )
+  .dependsOn(coreJVM % Test)
 
 
 // cats-js is JS-only
@@ -639,7 +645,7 @@ addCommandAlias("buildAlleycatsJVM", ";alleycatsCoreJVM/test;alleycatsLawsJVM/te
 
 addCommandAlias("buildJVM", ";buildKernelJVM;buildCoreJVM;buildTestsJVM;buildFreeJVM;buildAlleycatsJVM")
 
-addCommandAlias("validateBC", ";catsJVM/publishLocal;binCompatTest/test;mimaReportBinaryIssues")
+addCommandAlias("validateBC", ";binCompatTest/test;mimaReportBinaryIssues")
 
 addCommandAlias("validateJVM", ";scalastyle;buildJVM;bench/test;validateBC;makeMicrosite")
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/arrow/FunctionK.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/arrow/FunctionK.scala
index a7aa6cd47e..2316a71ce6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/arrow/FunctionK.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/arrow/FunctionK.scala
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 package cats
 package arrow
 
-import cats.data.{EitherK, Tuple2K}
+import scala.reflect.macros.blackbox.Context
 
-import cats.macros.MacroCompat
+import cats.data.{EitherK, Tuple2K}
 
 /**
   * `FunctionK[F[_], G[_]]` is a functor transformation from `F` to `G`
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ object FunctionK {
 
 }
 
-private[arrow] object FunctionKMacros extends MacroCompat {
+private[arrow] object FunctionKMacros {
 
   def lift[F[_], G[_]](c: Context)(
     f: c.Expr[(F[α] ⇒ G[α]) forSome { type α }]
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ private[arrow] object FunctionKMacros extends MacroCompat {
         val G = punchHole(evG.tpe)
 
         q"""
-        new FunctionK[$F, $G] {
+        new _root_.cats.arrow.FunctionK[$F, $G] {
           def apply[A](fa: $F[A]): $G[A] = $trans(fa)
         }
        """
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ private[arrow] object FunctionKMacros extends MacroCompat {
 
     private[this] def punchHole(tpe: Type): Tree = tpe match {
       case PolyType(undet :: Nil, underlying: TypeRef) ⇒
-        val α = compatNewTypeName(c, "α")
+        val α = TypeName("α")
         def rebind(typeRef: TypeRef): Tree =
           if (typeRef.sym == undet) tq"$α"
           else {
diff --git a/macros/src/main/scala/cats/macros/compat.scala b/macros/src/main/scala/cats/macros/compat.scala
deleted file mode 100644
index 54f4ddd8fc..0000000000
--- a/macros/src/main/scala/cats/macros/compat.scala
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-package cats
-package macros
-
-/** Macro compatibility.
-  *
-  * Used only to push deprecation errors in core off into
-  * the macros project, as warnings.
-  */
-private[cats] class MacroCompat {
-
-  type Context = reflect.macros.Context
-  def compatNewTypeName(c: Context, name: String): c.TypeName =
-    c.universe.newTypeName(name)
-
-}
diff --git a/tests/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FunctionKSuite.scala b/tests/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FunctionKSuite.scala
index bdb7816be8..cc73ef4e3b 100644
--- a/tests/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FunctionKSuite.scala
+++ b/tests/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FunctionKSuite.scala
@@ -82,6 +82,15 @@ class FunctionKSuite extends CatsSuite {
     }
   }
 
+  test("hygiene") {
+    trait FunctionK
+    def optionToList[A](option: Option[A]): List[A] = option.toList
+    val fOptionToList = cats.arrow.FunctionK.lift(optionToList _)
+    forAll { (a: Option[Int]) =>
+      fOptionToList(a) should === (optionToList(a))
+    }
+  }
+
   test("lift compound unary") {
     val fNelFromList = FunctionK.lift[List, λ[α ⇒ Option[NonEmptyList[α]]]](NonEmptyList.fromList _)
     forAll { (a: List[String]) =>