diff --git a/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt b/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
index 2006b6e8462f3..a297fb6ad32ce 100644
--- a/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
+++ b/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
@@ -417,6 +417,9 @@ There are no prior version deprecations that are taking effect as of 0.15.0.
 Deprecations
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+The ``convert_dummies`` method has been deprecated in favor of
+``get_dummies``(:issue:`8140`)
+
 .. _whatsnew_0150.knownissues:
 
 Known Issues
diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape.py b/pandas/core/reshape.py
index 218c76c2b0cfb..3ba589b8fa35d 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape.py
@@ -979,6 +979,12 @@ def convert_dummies(data, cat_variables, prefix_sep='_'):
     -------
     dummies : DataFrame
     """
+    import warnings
+
+    warnings.warn("'convert_dummies' is deprecated and will be removed "
+                  "in a future release. Use 'get_dummies' instead.",
+                  FutureWarning)
+
     result = data.drop(cat_variables, axis=1)
     for variable in cat_variables:
         dummies = _get_dummies_1d(data[variable], prefix=variable,
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_reshape.py b/pandas/tests/test_reshape.py
index 46ab983a4fbd9..3cc2d94789a8d 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_reshape.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_reshape.py
@@ -331,8 +331,9 @@ def test_convert_dummies(self):
                         'C': np.random.randn(8),
                         'D': np.random.randn(8)})
 
-        result = convert_dummies(df, ['A', 'B'])
-        result2 = convert_dummies(df, ['A', 'B'], prefix_sep='.')
+        with tm.assert_produces_warning(FutureWarning):
+            result = convert_dummies(df, ['A', 'B'])
+            result2 = convert_dummies(df, ['A', 'B'], prefix_sep='.')
 
         expected = DataFrame({'A_foo': [1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1],
                               'A_bar': [0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0],