diff --git a/lib/discourse.rb b/lib/discourse.rb
index 83e95d51311..d8eec52897c 100644
--- a/lib/discourse.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse.rb
@@ -527,6 +527,23 @@ module Discourse
     end
   end
 
+  def self.deprecate(warning)
+    location = caller_locations[1]
+    warning = "Deprecation Notice: #{warning}\nAt: #{location.label} #{location.path}:#{location.lineno}"
+    if Rails.env == "development"
+      STDERR.puts(warning)
+    end
+
+    digest = Digest::MD5.hexdigest(warning)
+    redis_key = "deprecate-notice-#{digest}"
+
+    if !$redis.without_namespace.get(redis_key)
+      Rails.logger.warn(warning)
+      $redis.without_namespace.setex(redis_key, 3600, "x")
+    end
+    warning
+  end
+
   SIDEKIQ_NAMESPACE ||= 'sidekiq'.freeze
 
   def self.sidekiq_redis_config
diff --git a/lib/freedom_patches/active_record_base.rb b/lib/freedom_patches/active_record_base.rb
index b65ebc0616b..a15d08fba33 100644
--- a/lib/freedom_patches/active_record_base.rb
+++ b/lib/freedom_patches/active_record_base.rb
@@ -2,19 +2,14 @@ class ActiveRecord::Base
 
   # Execute SQL manually
   def self.exec_sql(*args)
+
+    Discourse.deprecate("exec_sql should not be used anymore, please use DB.exec or DB.query instead!")
+
     conn = ActiveRecord::Base.connection
     sql = ActiveRecord::Base.send(:sanitize_sql_array, args)
     conn.raw_connection.async_exec(sql)
   end
 
-  def self.exec_sql_row_count(*args)
-    exec_sql(*args).cmd_tuples
-  end
-
-  def self.sql_fragment(*sql_array)
-    ActiveRecord::Base.send(:sanitize_sql_array, sql_array)
-  end
-
   def exec_sql(*args)
     ActiveRecord::Base.exec_sql(*args)
   end
@@ -36,10 +31,4 @@ class ActiveRecord::Base
     end
   end
 
-  # Support for psql. If we want to support multiple RDBMs in the future we can
-  # split this.
-  def exec_sql_row_count(*args)
-    exec_sql(*args).cmd_tuples
-  end
-
 end
diff --git a/spec/components/discourse_spec.rb b/spec/components/discourse_spec.rb
index 64d3c6c112b..b8030d84f75 100644
--- a/spec/components/discourse_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/discourse_spec.rb
@@ -226,4 +226,41 @@ describe Discourse do
     end
   end
 
+  context '#deprecate' do
+
+    class FakeLogger
+      attr_reader :warnings
+      def warn(m)
+        @warnings ||= []
+        @warnings << m
+      end
+    end
+
+    def old_method(m)
+      Discourse.deprecate(m)
+    end
+
+    def old_method_caller(m)
+      old_method(m)
+    end
+
+    before do
+      @orig_logger = Rails.logger
+      Rails.logger = @fake_logger = FakeLogger.new
+    end
+
+    after do
+      Rails.logger = @orig_logger
+    end
+
+    it 'can deprecate usage' do
+      k = SecureRandom.hex
+      expect(old_method_caller(k)).to include("old_method_caller")
+      expect(old_method_caller(k)).to include("discourse_spec")
+      expect(old_method_caller(k)).to include(k)
+
+      expect(@fake_logger.warnings).to eq([old_method_caller(k)])
+    end
+  end
+
 end