diff --git a/config.mk b/config.mk
index ee106fe..dddff01 100644
--- a/config.mk
+++ b/config.mk
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ ifneq ($(wildcard ./.git/.),)
 VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags)
 endif
 
+# Warning: This is deprecated behavior
 # uncomment to disable parsing of dunstrc
 # or use "CFLAGS=-DSTATIC_CONFIG make" to build
 #STATIC= -DSTATIC_CONFIG
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ pkg_config_packs := dbus-1 x11 xscrnsaver \
 # check if we need libxdg-basedir
 ifeq (,$(findstring STATIC_CONFIG,$(CFLAGS)))
 	pkg_config_packs += libxdg-basedir
+else
+$(warning STATIC_CONFIG is deprecated behavior. It will get removed in future releases)
 endif
 
 # includes and libs
diff --git a/src/settings.c b/src/settings.c
index 564439a..8daf77e 100644
--- a/src/settings.c
+++ b/src/settings.c
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ void load_settings(char *cmdline_config_path)
         }
 
         load_ini_file(config_file);
+#else
+        fprintf(stderr, "Warning: dunstrc parsing disabled. "
+                        "Using STATIC_CONFIG is deprecated behavior.\n");
 #endif
 
         settings.per_monitor_dpi = option_get_bool(