diff --git a/docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/deprecated-config.rst b/docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/deprecated-config.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..96eb1291f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/docsite/rst/dev_guide/testing/sanity/deprecated-config.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+:orphan:
+
+Sanity Tests » deprecated-config
+================================
+
+``DOCUMENTATION`` config is scheduled for removal
diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.json b/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..35ad9c94d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+    "always": true,
+    "output": "path-message",
+    "extensions": [
+        ".py"
+    ],
+    "prefixes": [
+        "lib/ansible/"
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.py b/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3870756bf1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/deprecated-config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# (c) 2018, Matt Martz <matt@sivel.net>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+import mmap
+import os
+import re
+import sys
+
+import yaml
+
+from distutils.version import StrictVersion
+
+import ansible.config
+
+from ansible.plugins.loader import fragment_loader
+from ansible.release import __version__ as ansible_version
+from ansible.utils.plugin_docs import get_docstring
+
+DOC_RE = re.compile(b'^DOCUMENTATION', flags=re.M)
+ANSIBLE_MAJOR = StrictVersion('.'.join(ansible_version.split('.')[:2]))
+
+
+def find_deprecations(o, path=None):
+    if not isinstance(o, (list, dict)):
+        return
+
+    try:
+        items = o.items()
+    except AttributeError:
+        items = enumerate(o)
+
+    for k, v in items:
+        if path is None:
+            this_path = []
+        else:
+            this_path = path[:]
+
+        this_path.append(k)
+
+        if k != 'deprecated':
+            for result in find_deprecations(v, path=this_path):
+                yield result
+        else:
+            try:
+                version = v['version']
+                this_path.append('version')
+            except KeyError:
+                version = v['removed_in']
+                this_path.append('removed_in')
+            if StrictVersion(version) <= ANSIBLE_MAJOR:
+                yield (this_path, version)
+
+
+def main():
+    plugins = []
+    for path in sys.argv[1:] or sys.stdin.read().splitlines():
+        with open(path, 'rb') as f:
+            try:
+                mm = mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), 0, access=mmap.ACCESS_READ)
+            except ValueError:
+                continue
+            if DOC_RE.search(mm):
+                plugins.append(path)
+            mm.close()
+
+    for plugin in plugins:
+        data = {}
+        data['doc'], data['examples'], data['return'], data['metadata'] = get_docstring(plugin, fragment_loader)
+        for result in find_deprecations(data['doc']):
+            print(
+                '%s: %s is scheduled for removal in %s' % (plugin, '.'.join(str(i) for i in result[0][:-2]), result[1])
+            )
+
+    base = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(ansible.config.__file__), 'base.yml')
+    with open(base) as f:
+        data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+
+    for result in find_deprecations(data):
+        print('%s: %s is scheduled for removal in %s' % (base, '.'.join(str(i) for i in result[0][:-2]), result[1]))
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/skip.txt b/test/sanity/code-smell/skip.txt
index e69de29bb2..4bb69f7427 100644
--- a/test/sanity/code-smell/skip.txt
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/skip.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+deprecated-config.py  # disabled by default, to be enabled by the release manager, after branching