diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/README.rst b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/README.rst
index 00d4d589..e5cc6179 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/README.rst
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/README.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 =====
 rhel7
 =====
+
+.. warning::
+
+   This element is deprecated and is left only for backward compatibility.
+   Use the `rhel` element instead. Note that you should set DIB_RELEASE to 7
+   to indicate which release you are using. Please read the notes.
+
 Use RHEL 7 cloud images as the baseline for built disk images.
 
 Because RHEL 7 base images are not publicly available, it is necessary to first
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-deps b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-deps
index 81585c43..476fbc01 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-deps
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-deps
@@ -1,6 +1 @@
-cache-url
-redhat-common
-rhel-common
-rpm-distro
-source-repositories
-yum
+rhel
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-provides b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-provides
deleted file mode 100644
index a72e0496..00000000
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/element-provides
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-operating-system
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/00-rhel7-element-deprecation.bash b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/00-rhel7-element-deprecation.bash
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ff03c142
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/00-rhel7-element-deprecation.bash
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+echo "The rhel7 element is deprecated and will be removed in future releases. Use the rhel element instead."
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/10-rhel7-distro-name.bash b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/10-rhel7-distro-name.bash
index 07578d0e..d64b367a 100644
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/10-rhel7-distro-name.bash
+++ b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/environment.d/10-rhel7-distro-name.bash
@@ -1 +1 @@
-export DISTRO_NAME=rhel7
+export DIB_RELEASE=7
diff --git a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/root.d/10-rhel7-cloud-image b/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/root.d/10-rhel7-cloud-image
deleted file mode 100755
index 2016576c..00000000
--- a/diskimage_builder/elements/rhel7/root.d/10-rhel7-cloud-image
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,44 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-if [ ${DIB_DEBUG_TRACE:-0} -gt 0 ]; then
-    set -x
-fi
-set -eu
-set -o pipefail
-
-[ -n "$ARCH" ]
-[ -n "$TARGET_ROOT" ]
-
-if [[ "amd64 x86_64" =~ "$ARCH" ]]; then
-    ARCH="x86_64"
-elif [[ "ppc64le" =~ "$ARCH" ]]; then
-    # We don't need to do anything here other than avoid the else clause
-    :
-else
-    echo 'rhel7 root element only supports x86_64 and ppc64le values for $ARCH'
-    exit 1
-fi
-
-DIB_LOCAL_IMAGE=${DIB_LOCAL_IMAGE:-""}
-
-if [ -n "$DIB_LOCAL_IMAGE" ]; then
-    IMAGE_LOCATION=$DIB_LOCAL_IMAGE
-    # No need to copy a local image into the cache directory, so just specify
-    # the cached path as the original path.
-    CACHED_IMAGE=$IMAGE_LOCATION
-    BASE_IMAGE_FILE=`basename $DIB_LOCAL_IMAGE`
-    BASE_IMAGE_TAR=$BASE_IMAGE_FILE.tgz
-else
-    if [ -z "${BASE_IMAGE_FILE:-}" -o -z "${DIB_CLOUD_IMAGES:-}" ]; then
-        echo "No source for a base image file configured."
-        echo "See rhel7 element readme for details on how to obtain and use a base image."
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    DIB_RELEASE=${DIB_RELEASE:-latest}
-    BASE_IMAGE_TAR=$DIB_RELEASE-rhel-server-$ARCH-latest.tgz
-    IMAGE_LOCATION=$DIB_CLOUD_IMAGES/$BASE_IMAGE_FILE
-    CACHED_IMAGE=$DIB_IMAGE_CACHE/$BASE_IMAGE_FILE
-
-fi
-
-$TMP_HOOKS_PATH/bin/extract-image $BASE_IMAGE_FILE $BASE_IMAGE_TAR $IMAGE_LOCATION $CACHED_IMAGE
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/rhel7-element-deprecation-b0c1b57be8cd06ac.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/rhel7-element-deprecation-b0c1b57be8cd06ac.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a8107397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/rhel7-element-deprecation-b0c1b57be8cd06ac.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+deprecations:
+  - |
+   The rhel7 element is deprecated and is left only for backwards
+   compatibility. Use the `rhel` element instead. Note that you should set
+   DIB_RELEASE to 7 to indicate which release you are using. Please read the
+   notes.