diff --git a/assembly/pom.xml b/assembly/pom.xml
index 301ff69c2ae3..c1bcdbb664dd 100644
--- a/assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/assembly/pom.xml
@@ -221,6 +221,24 @@
       <id>deb</id>
       <build>
         <plugins>
+          <plugin>
+            <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+            <executions>
+              <execution>
+                <phase>prepare-package</phase>
+                <goals>
+                  <goal>run</goal>
+                </goals>
+                <configuration>
+                  <target>
+                    <echo>
+                      NOTE: Debian packaging is deprecated and is scheduled to be removed in Spark 1.4.
+                    </echo>
+                  </target>
+                </configuration>
+              </execution>
+            </executions>
+          </plugin>
           <plugin>
             <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
             <artifactId>buildnumber-maven-plugin</artifactId>
diff --git a/docs/building-spark.md b/docs/building-spark.md
index db6990581381..d3824fb61eef 100644
--- a/docs/building-spark.md
+++ b/docs/building-spark.md
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ For help in setting up IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse for Spark development, and troub
 
 # Building Spark Debian Packages
 
+_NOTE: Debian packaging is deprecated and is scheduled to be removed in Spark 1.4._
+
 The Maven build includes support for building a Debian package containing the assembly 'fat-jar', PySpark, and the necessary scripts and configuration files. This can be created by specifying the following:
 
     mvn -Pdeb -DskipTests clean package