diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfo.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfo.java
index cf9e4672d62..f3457495294 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfo.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfo.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public class HttpInfo implements Writeable, ToXContentFragment {
 
     private final BoundTransportAddress address;
     private final long maxContentLength;
-    private final boolean cnameInPublishHost;
+    private final boolean cnameInPublishHostProperty;
 
     public HttpInfo(StreamInput in) throws IOException {
         this(new BoundTransportAddress(in), in.readLong(), CNAME_IN_PUBLISH_HOST);
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ public class HttpInfo implements Writeable, ToXContentFragment {
         this(address, maxContentLength, CNAME_IN_PUBLISH_HOST);
     }
 
-    HttpInfo(BoundTransportAddress address, long maxContentLength, boolean cnameInPublishHost) {
+    HttpInfo(BoundTransportAddress address, long maxContentLength, boolean cnameInPublishHostProperty) {
         this.address = address;
         this.maxContentLength = maxContentLength;
-        this.cnameInPublishHost = cnameInPublishHost;
+        this.cnameInPublishHostProperty = cnameInPublishHostProperty;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -83,13 +83,11 @@ public class HttpInfo implements Writeable, ToXContentFragment {
         String publishAddressString = publishAddress.toString();
         String hostString = publishAddress.address().getHostString();
         if (InetAddresses.isInetAddress(hostString) == false) {
-            if (cnameInPublishHost) {
-                publishAddressString = hostString + '/' + publishAddress.toString();
-            } else {
+            publishAddressString = hostString + '/' + publishAddress.toString();
+            if (cnameInPublishHostProperty) {
                 deprecationLogger.deprecated(
-                    "[http.publish_host] was printed as [ip:port] instead of [hostname/ip:port]. "
-                        + "This format is deprecated and will change to [hostname/ip:port] in a future version. "
-                        + "Use -Des.http.cname_in_publish_address=true to enforce non-deprecated formatting."
+                        "es.http.cname_in_publish_address system property is deprecated and no longer affects http.publish_address " +
+                                "formatting. Remove this property to get rid of this deprecation warning."
                 );
             }
         }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfoTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfoTests.java
index db149bd6d0d..cd0cf7e1894 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfoTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpInfoTests.java
@@ -40,14 +40,30 @@ public class HttpInfoTests extends ESTestCase {
                 new BoundTransportAddress(
                     new TransportAddress[]{new TransportAddress(localhost, port)},
                     new TransportAddress(localhost, port)
-                ), 0L, true
+                ), 0L, false
             ), "localhost/" + NetworkAddress.format(localhost) + ':' + port
         );
     }
 
-    public void hideCnameIfDeprecatedFormat() throws Exception {
+    public void testDeprecatedWarningIfPropertySpecified() throws Exception {
         InetAddress localhost = InetAddress.getByName("localhost");
         int port = 9200;
+        assertPublishAddress(
+                new HttpInfo(
+                        new BoundTransportAddress(
+                                new TransportAddress[]{new TransportAddress(localhost, port)},
+                                new TransportAddress(localhost, port)
+                        ), 0L, true
+                ), "localhost/" + NetworkAddress.format(localhost) + ':' + port
+        );
+        assertWarnings(
+                "es.http.cname_in_publish_address system property is deprecated and no longer affects http.publish_address " +
+                "formatting. Remove this property to get rid of this deprecation warning.");
+    }
+
+    public void testCorrectDisplayPublishedIp() throws Exception {
+        InetAddress localhost = InetAddress.getByName(NetworkAddress.format(InetAddress.getByName("localhost")));
+        int port = 9200;
         assertPublishAddress(
             new HttpInfo(
                 new BoundTransportAddress(
@@ -58,26 +74,13 @@ public class HttpInfoTests extends ESTestCase {
         );
     }
 
-    public void testCorrectDisplayPublishedIp() throws Exception {
-        InetAddress localhost = InetAddress.getByName(NetworkAddress.format(InetAddress.getByName("localhost")));
-        int port = 9200;
-        assertPublishAddress(
-            new HttpInfo(
-                new BoundTransportAddress(
-                    new TransportAddress[]{new TransportAddress(localhost, port)},
-                    new TransportAddress(localhost, port)
-                ), 0L, true
-            ), NetworkAddress.format(localhost) + ':' + port
-        );
-    }
-
     public void testCorrectDisplayPublishedIpv6() throws Exception {
         int port = 9200;
         TransportAddress localhost =
             new TransportAddress(InetAddress.getByName(NetworkAddress.format(InetAddress.getByName("0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1"))), port);
         assertPublishAddress(
             new HttpInfo(
-                new BoundTransportAddress(new TransportAddress[]{localhost}, localhost), 0L, true
+                new BoundTransportAddress(new TransportAddress[]{localhost}, localhost), 0L, false
             ), localhost.toString()
         );
     }