diff --git a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
index 5c17493dca..1bfa337bf9 100644
--- a/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
+++ b/nova/virt/vmwareapi/driver.py
@@ -200,6 +200,13 @@ class VMwareVCDriver(driver.ComputeDriver):
                 self._datastore_regex = None
 
     def init_host(self, host):
+        LOG.warning('The vmwareapi driver is deprecated and may be removed in '
+                    'a future release. The driver is not tested by the '
+                    'OpenStack project nor does it have clear maintainer(s) '
+                    'and thus its quality can not be ensured. If you are '
+                    'using the driver in production please let us know in '
+                    'freenode IRC and/or the openstack-discuss mailing list.')
+
         vim = self._session.vim
         if vim is None:
             self._session._create_session()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-vmware-ussuri-39e0215eca80ffd7.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-vmware-ussuri-39e0215eca80ffd7.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..20c35cf594
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-vmware-ussuri-39e0215eca80ffd7.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - |
+    The vmwareapi driver is deprecated in this release and may be
+    removed in a future one. The driver is not tested by the OpenStack
+    Nova project and does not have a clear maintainer.