diff --git a/bin/ycsb b/bin/ycsb
index c4846f3d47a250cf832350df8b995715d62fe0e4..746ddab1c8c75dd4ac9a5ffd5b355fbf0e8716d6 100755
--- a/bin/ycsb
+++ b/bin/ycsb
@@ -205,6 +205,13 @@ def main():
 
     # Classpath set up
     binding = args.database.split("-")[0]
+
+    # Deprecation message for the entire cassandra-binding
+    if binding == "cassandra":
+        warn("The 'cassandra-7', 'cassandra-8', 'cassandra-10', and "
+             "cassandra-cql' clients are deprecated. If you are using "
+             "Cassandra 2.X try using the 'cassandra2-cql' client instead.")
+
     if is_distribution():
         db_dir = os.path.join(ycsb_home, binding + "-binding")
         # include top-level conf for when we're a binding-specific artifact.