diff --git a/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml b/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
index 4b2b53bf96..a84bdf6ebe 100644
--- a/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
+++ b/assembly/src/main/descriptors/common-bin.xml
@@ -177,7 +177,6 @@
       <unpack>false</unpack>
       <scope>runtime</scope>
       <includes>
-        <include>${pom.groupId}:activemq-rar</include>
         <include>${pom.groupId}:activemq-optional</include>
         <include>${pom.groupId}:activemq-pool</include>
         <include>${pom.groupId}:activemq-xmpp</include>
diff --git a/assembly/src/release/lib/activemq-rar.txt b/assembly/src/release/lib/activemq-rar.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..05fac12514
--- /dev/null
+++ b/assembly/src/release/lib/activemq-rar.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ActiveMQ RAR is no longer included in the distribution.
+
+Please download it separately from: http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/activemq/activemq-rar/
\ No newline at end of file