diff --git a/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py b/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py
index f80ca62287..ad6cc44b08 100644
--- a/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py
+++ b/distutils/cygwinccompiler.py
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, check_output
 import re
 
+import distutils.version
 from distutils.unixccompiler import UnixCCompiler
 from distutils.file_util import write_file
 from distutils.errors import (DistutilsExecError, CCompilerError,
@@ -405,9 +406,10 @@ def _find_exe_version(cmd):
     result = RE_VERSION.search(out_string)
     if result is None:
         return None
-    # LooseVersion works with strings
-    # so we need to decode our bytes
-    return LooseVersion(result.group(1).decode())
+    # LooseVersion works with strings; decode
+    ver_str = result.group(1).decode()
+    with distutils.version.suppress_known_deprecation():
+        return LooseVersion(ver_str)
 
 def get_versions():
     """ Try to find out the versions of gcc, ld and dllwrap.
diff --git a/distutils/tests/test_version.py b/distutils/tests/test_version.py
index 8671cd2fc5..d50cca1fc0 100644
--- a/distutils/tests/test_version.py
+++ b/distutils/tests/test_version.py
@@ -1,11 +1,19 @@
 """Tests for distutils.version."""
 import unittest
+import distutils
 from distutils.version import LooseVersion
 from distutils.version import StrictVersion
 from test.support import run_unittest
 
 class VersionTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.ctx = distutils.version.suppress_known_deprecation()
+        self.ctx.__enter__()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.ctx.__exit__(None, None, None)
+
     def test_prerelease(self):
         version = StrictVersion('1.2.3a1')
         self.assertEqual(version.version, (1, 2, 3))
diff --git a/distutils/version.py b/distutils/version.py
index f09889ac43..35e181dbb6 100644
--- a/distutils/version.py
+++ b/distutils/version.py
@@ -27,6 +27,20 @@
 """
 
 import re
+import warnings
+import contextlib
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def suppress_known_deprecation():
+    with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as ctx:
+        warnings.filterwarnings(
+            action='default',
+            category=DeprecationWarning,
+            message="distutils Version classes are deprecated.",
+        )
+        yield ctx
+
 
 class Version:
     """Abstract base class for version numbering classes.  Just provides
@@ -36,6 +50,12 @@ class Version:
     """
 
     def __init__ (self, vstring=None):
+        warnings.warn(
+            "distutils Version classes are deprecated. "
+            "Use packaging.version instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning,
+            stacklevel=2,
+        )
         if vstring:
             self.parse(vstring)
 
@@ -165,7 +185,8 @@ def __str__ (self):
 
     def _cmp (self, other):
         if isinstance(other, str):
-            other = StrictVersion(other)
+            with suppress_known_deprecation():
+                other = StrictVersion(other)
         elif not isinstance(other, StrictVersion):
             return NotImplemented
 
diff --git a/distutils/versionpredicate.py b/distutils/versionpredicate.py
index 062c98f248..55f25d91ae 100644
--- a/distutils/versionpredicate.py
+++ b/distutils/versionpredicate.py
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ def splitUp(pred):
     if not res:
         raise ValueError("bad package restriction syntax: %r" % pred)
     comp, verStr = res.groups()
-    return (comp, distutils.version.StrictVersion(verStr))
+    with distutils.version.suppress_known_deprecation():
+        other = distutils.version.StrictVersion(verStr)
+    return (comp, other)
 
 compmap = {"<": operator.lt, "<=": operator.le, "==": operator.eq,
            ">": operator.gt, ">=": operator.ge, "!=": operator.ne}
@@ -162,5 +164,6 @@ def split_provision(value):
         raise ValueError("illegal provides specification: %r" % value)
     ver = m.group(2) or None
     if ver:
-        ver = distutils.version.StrictVersion(ver)
+        with distutils.version.suppress_known_deprecation():
+            ver = distutils.version.StrictVersion(ver)
     return m.group(1), ver