diff --git a/manifests/cells.pp b/manifests/cells.pp
index 756e71025..4e3ad05e9 100644
--- a/manifests/cells.pp
+++ b/manifests/cells.pp
@@ -34,10 +34,6 @@
 #    Create cells with nova-manage
 #    Defaults to 'True'
 #
-#  [*driver*]
-#    Cells communication driver to use
-#    Defaults to 'nova.cells.rpc_driver.CellsRPCDriver'
-#
 #  [*ensure_package*]
 #    Desired ensure state of packages.
 #    Defaults to present
@@ -142,6 +138,10 @@
 #    DEPRECATED. Number of instances to update per periodic task run
 #    Defaults to undef
 #
+#  [*driver*]
+#    Cells communication driver to use
+#    Defaults to undef
+#
 class nova::cells (
   $bandwidth_update_interval     = '600',
   $call_timeout                  = '60',
@@ -151,7 +151,6 @@ class nova::cells (
   $cell_parent_name              = undef,
   $create_cells                  = true,
   $db_check_interval             = '60',
-  $driver                        = 'nova.cells.rpc_driver.CellsRPCDriver',
   $enabled                       = true,
   $ensure_package                = 'present',
   $instance_updated_at_threshold = '3600',
@@ -173,6 +172,7 @@ class nova::cells (
   $weight_scale                  = '1.0',
   # Deprecated
   $manager                       = undef,
+  $driver                        = undef,
 ) {
 
   include ::nova::deps
@@ -182,6 +182,10 @@ class nova::cells (
     warning('manager parameter is deprecated, has no effect and will be removed in a future release.')
   }
 
+  if $driver {
+    warning('driver parameter is now deprecated, has no effect and will be removed at Ocata cycle.')
+  }
+
   case $cell_type {
     'parent': {
       nova_config { 'DEFAULT/compute_api_class': value => 'nova.compute.cells_api.ComputeCellsAPI' }
@@ -199,7 +203,6 @@ class nova::cells (
     'cells/call_timeout':                  value => $call_timeout;
     'cells/capabilities':                  value => join($capabilities, ',');
     'cells/db_check_interval':             value => $db_check_interval;
-    'cells/driver':                        value => $driver;
     'cells/enable':                        value => $enabled;
     'cells/instance_updated_at_threshold': value => $instance_updated_at_threshold;
     'cells/instance_update_num_instances': value => $instance_update_num_instances;
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate_cells_driver_option-3412a439fd137186.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate_cells_driver_option-3412a439fd137186.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..248a91c42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate_cells_driver_option-3412a439fd137186.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - The cells.driver configuration option is now deprecated and
+    will be removed at Ocata cycle.
diff --git a/spec/classes/nova_cells_spec.rb b/spec/classes/nova_cells_spec.rb
index 2eeae064e..3f4879e0e 100644
--- a/spec/classes/nova_cells_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/nova_cells_spec.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ describe 'nova::cells' do
      :call_timeout                  => '60',
      :capabilities                  => ['hypervisor=xenserver;kvm','os=linux;windows'],
      :db_check_interval             => '60',
-     :driver                        => 'nova.cells.rpc_driver.CellsRPCDriver',
      :instance_updated_at_threshold => '3600',
      :instance_update_num_instances => '1',
      :max_hop_count                 => '10',
@@ -77,7 +76,6 @@ describe 'nova::cells' do
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/call_timeout').with(:value => '60')
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/capabilities').with(:value => 'hypervisor=xenserver;kvm,os=linux;windows')
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/db_check_interval').with(:value => '60')
-      is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/driver').with(:value => 'nova.cells.rpc_driver.CellsRPCDriver')
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/instance_updated_at_threshold').with(:value => '3600')
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/instance_update_num_instances').with(:value => '1')
       is_expected.to contain_nova_config('cells/max_hop_count').with(:value => '10')