diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 89bd662a6a..b272a0336b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -5629,6 +5629,12 @@ if test "$sdl_too_old" = "yes"; then
 echo "-> Your SDL version is too old - please upgrade to have SDL support"
 fi
 
+if test "$gtkabi" = "2.0"; then
+    echo
+    echo "WARNING: Use of GTK 2.0 is deprecated and will be removed in"
+    echo "WARNING: future releases. Please switch to using GTK 3.0"
+fi
+
 if test "$supported_cpu" = "no"; then
     echo
     echo "WARNING: SUPPORT FOR THIS HOST CPU WILL GO AWAY IN FUTURE RELEASES!"
diff --git a/qemu-doc.texi b/qemu-doc.texi
index a3d2054c90..3e9eb819a6 100644
--- a/qemu-doc.texi
+++ b/qemu-doc.texi
@@ -2587,6 +2587,15 @@ they were first deprecated in the 2.10.0 release.
 What follows is a list of all features currently marked as
 deprecated.
 
+@section Build options
+
+@subsection GTK 2.x
+
+Previously QEMU has supported building against both GTK 2.x
+and 3.x series APIs. Support for the GTK 2.x builds will be
+discontinued, so maintainers should switch to using GTK 3.x,
+which is the default.
+
 @section System emulator command line arguments
 
 @subsection -tdf (since 1.3.0)
diff --git a/ui/gtk.c b/ui/gtk.c
index 342e96fbe9..f3b7567984 100644
--- a/ui/gtk.c
+++ b/ui/gtk.c
@@ -2248,6 +2248,11 @@ void gtk_display_init(DisplayState *ds, bool full_screen, bool grab_on_hover)
         exit(1);
     }
 
+#if !GTK_CHECK_VERSION(3, 0, 0)
+    g_printerr("Running QEMU with GTK 2.x is deprecated, and will be removed\n"
+               "in a future release. Please switch to GTK 3.x instead\n");
+#endif
+
     s->window = gtk_window_new(GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
 #if GTK_CHECK_VERSION(3, 2, 0)
     s->vbox = gtk_box_new(GTK_ORIENTATION_VERTICAL, 0);