diff --git a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/userguide/appendices/Configurations.adoc b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/userguide/appendices/Configurations.adoc
index e70b11b420..75ff5d99c9 100644
--- a/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/userguide/appendices/Configurations.adoc
+++ b/documentation/src/main/asciidoc/userguide/appendices/Configurations.adoc
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ Enable lazy loading feature in runtime bytecode enhancement. This way, even basi
 Enable association management feature in runtime bytecode enhancement which automatically synchronizes a bidirectional association when only one side is changed.
 
 `*hibernate.bytecode.provider*` (e.g. `bytebuddy` (default value))::
-The https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/orm/{majorMinorVersion}/javadocs/org/hibernate/bytecode/spi/BytecodeProvider.html[`BytecodeProvider`] built-in implementation flavor. Currently, only `bytebuddy` and `javassist` are valid values.
+The https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/orm/{majorMinorVersion}/javadocs/org/hibernate/bytecode/spi/BytecodeProvider.html[`BytecodeProvider`] built-in implementation flavor. Currently, only `bytebuddy` and `javassist` are valid values; `bytebuddy` is the default and recommended choice; `javassist` will be removed soon.
 
 `*hibernate.bytecode.use_reflection_optimizer*` (e.g. `true` or `false` (default value))::
 Should we use reflection optimization? The reflection optimizer implements the https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/orm/{majorMinorVersion}/javadocs/org/hibernate/bytecode/spi/ReflectionOptimizer.html[`ReflectionOptimizer`] interface and improves entity instantiation and property getter/setter calls.
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/bytecode/internal/javassist/BytecodeProviderImpl.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/bytecode/internal/javassist/BytecodeProviderImpl.java
index 995ab83f49..ca588e2519 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/bytecode/internal/javassist/BytecodeProviderImpl.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/bytecode/internal/javassist/BytecodeProviderImpl.java
@@ -21,9 +21,13 @@ import org.jboss.logging.Logger;
 
 /**
  * Bytecode provider implementation for Javassist.
+ * @deprecated The Javassist based enhancer will be removed soon,
+ * please use the one based on ByteBuddy (which is the default since
+ * version 5.3 of Hibernate ORM)
  *
  * @author Steve Ebersole
  */
+@Deprecated
 public class BytecodeProviderImpl implements BytecodeProvider {
 	private static final CoreMessageLogger LOG = Logger.getMessageLogger(
 			CoreMessageLogger.class,
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Environment.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Environment.java
index 824f556d1f..892a07f350 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Environment.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Environment.java
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ public final class Environment implements AvailableSettings {
 		}
 
 		if ( BYTECODE_PROVIDER_NAME_JAVASSIST.equals( providerName ) ) {
+			LOG.warnUsingJavassistBytecodeProviderIsDeprecated();
 			return new org.hibernate.bytecode.internal.javassist.BytecodeProviderImpl();
 		}
 
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
index 096aa3ec3d..04083199e9 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
@@ -1860,4 +1860,9 @@ public interface CoreMessageLogger extends BasicLogger {
 	@Message(value = "Detaching an uninitialized collection with enabled filters from a session: %s", id = 506)
 	void enabledFiltersWhenDetachFromSession(String collectionInfoString);
 
+	@LogMessage(level = WARN)
+	@Message(value = "The Javassist based BytecodeProvider is deprecated. Please switch to using the ByteBuddy based BytecodeProvider, " +
+			"which is the default since Hibernate ORM 5.3. The Javassist one will be removed soon.", id = 507)
+	void warnUsingJavassistBytecodeProviderIsDeprecated();
+
 }