diff --git a/mercurial/util.py b/mercurial/util.py
--- a/mercurial/util.py
+++ b/mercurial/util.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ import tempfile
 import textwrap
 import time
 import traceback
+import warnings
 import zlib
 
 from . import (
@@ -156,6 +157,31 @@ def bitsfrom(container):
         bits |= bit
     return bits
 
+# python 2.6 still have deprecation warning enabled by default. We do not want
+# to display anything to standard user so detect if we are running test and
+# only use python deprecation warning in this case.
+_dowarn = bool(encoding.environ.get('HGEMITWARNINGS'))
+if _dowarn:
+    # explicitly unfilter our warning for python 2.7
+    #
+    # The option of setting PYTHONWARNINGS in the test runner was investigated.
+    # However, module name set through PYTHONWARNINGS was exactly matched, so
+    # we cannot set 'mercurial' and have it match eg: 'mercurial.scmutil'. This
+    # makes the whole PYTHONWARNINGS thing useless for our usecase.
+    warnings.filterwarnings('default', '', DeprecationWarning, 'mercurial')
+    warnings.filterwarnings('default', '', DeprecationWarning, 'hgext')
+    warnings.filterwarnings('default', '', DeprecationWarning, 'hgext3rd')
+
+def nouideprecwarn(msg, version, stacklevel=1):
+    """Issue an python native deprecation warning
+
+    This is a noop outside of tests, use 'ui.deprecwarn' when possible.
+    """
+    if _dowarn:
+        msg += ("\n(compatibility will be dropped after Mercurial-%s,"
+                " update your code.)") % version
+        warnings.warn(msg, DeprecationWarning, stacklevel + 1)
+
 DIGESTS = {
     'md5': hashlib.md5,
     'sha1': hashlib.sha1,
diff --git a/tests/run-tests.py b/tests/run-tests.py
--- a/tests/run-tests.py
+++ b/tests/run-tests.py
@@ -884,6 +884,7 @@ class Test(unittest.TestCase):
         env = os.environ.copy()
         if sysconfig is not None:
             env['PYTHONUSERBASE'] = sysconfig.get_config_var('userbase')
+        env['HGEMITWARNINGS'] = '1'
         env['TESTTMP'] = self._testtmp
         env['HOME'] = self._testtmp
         # This number should match portneeded in _getport
diff --git a/tests/test-devel-warnings.t b/tests/test-devel-warnings.t
--- a/tests/test-devel-warnings.t
+++ b/tests/test-devel-warnings.t
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   > """A small extension that tests our developer warnings
   > """
   > 
-  > from mercurial import cmdutil, repair
+  > from mercurial import cmdutil, repair, util
   > 
   > cmdtable = {}
   > command = cmdutil.command(cmdtable)
@@ -58,6 +58,9 @@
   >     def foobar(ui):
   >         ui.deprecwarn('foorbar is deprecated, go shopping', '42.1337')
   >     foobar(ui)
+  > @command('nouiwarning', [], '')
+  > def nouiwarning(ui, repo):
+  >     util.nouideprecwarn('this is a test', '13.37')
   > EOF
 
   $ cat << EOF >> $HGRCPATH
@@ -163,4 +166,15 @@ Test programming error failure:
   Traceback (most recent call last):
   mercurial.error.ProgrammingError: transaction requires locking
 
+Old style deprecation warning
+
+  $ hg nouiwarning
+  $TESTTMP/buggylocking.py:61: DeprecationWarning: this is a test
+  (compatibility will be dropped after Mercurial-13.37, update your code.)
+    util.nouideprecwarn('this is a test', '13.37')
+
+(disabled outside of test run)
+
+  $ HGEMITWARNINGS= hg nouiwarning
+
   $ cd ..