diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/meta.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/meta.go
index cf57fc4993a..81403393fb6 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/meta.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta/meta.go
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func AsPartialObjectMetadata(m metav1.Object) *metav1.PartialObjectMetadata {
 				Annotations:                m.GetAnnotations(),
 				OwnerReferences:            m.GetOwnerReferences(),
 				Finalizers:                 m.GetFinalizers(),
-				ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName:                m.GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName(),
+				ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName:  m.GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName(),
 				ManagedFields:              m.GetManagedFields(),
 			},
 		}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/meta.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/meta.go
index c2737b032e8..1ea90de1eda 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/meta.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/meta.go
@@ -172,8 +172,10 @@ func (meta *ObjectMeta) GetOwnerReferences() []OwnerReference         { return m
 func (meta *ObjectMeta) SetOwnerReferences(references []OwnerReference) {
 	meta.OwnerReferences = references
 }
-func (meta *ObjectMeta) GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName() string                 { return meta.ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName }
-func (meta *ObjectMeta) SetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName(clusterName string)      { meta.ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName = clusterName }
+func (meta *ObjectMeta) GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName() string { return meta.ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName }
+func (meta *ObjectMeta) SetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName(clusterName string) {
+	meta.ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName = clusterName
+}
 func (meta *ObjectMeta) GetManagedFields() []ManagedFieldsEntry { return meta.ManagedFields }
 func (meta *ObjectMeta) SetManagedFields(managedFields []ManagedFieldsEntry) {
 	meta.ManagedFields = managedFields
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/types.go
index b1c8d6f09ef..e8d18b3e917 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/types.go
@@ -257,10 +257,13 @@ type ObjectMeta struct {
 	// +patchStrategy=merge
 	Finalizers []string `json:"finalizers,omitempty" patchStrategy:"merge" protobuf:"bytes,14,rep,name=finalizers"`
 
-	// ClusterName tombstone. It consumed proto tag 15. We will remove
-	// completely sans a comment here next release (1.25). The name is
-	// changed here for a release to ensure any users (which we do not
-	// expect) will get a compile error before a serialization error.
+	// Deprecated: ClusterName is a legacy field that was always cleared by
+	// the system and never used; it will be removed completely in 1.25.
+	//
+	// The name in the go struct is changed to help clients detect
+	// accidental use.
+	//
+	// +optional
 	ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName string `json:"clusterName,omitempty" protobuf:"bytes,15,opt,name=clusterName"`
 
 	// ManagedFields maps workflow-id and version to the set of fields
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/create.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/create.go
index 32ca642cf5f..83d5e576aa3 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/create.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/create.go
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ func BeforeCreate(strategy RESTCreateStrategy, ctx context.Context, obj runtime.
 	// ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName is ignored and should not be saved
 	if len(objectMeta.GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName()) > 0 {
 		objectMeta.SetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName("")
+		warning.AddWarning(ctx, "", "metadata.clusterName was specified. This field is not preserved and will be removed from the schema in 1.25")
 	}
 
 	if errs := strategy.Validate(ctx, obj); len(errs) > 0 {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/update.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/update.go
index 7c8ec3e2e72..e5ae7af0ebb 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/update.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/update.go
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ func BeforeUpdate(strategy RESTUpdateStrategy, ctx context.Context, obj, old run
 	// ZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName is ignored and should not be saved
 	if len(objectMeta.GetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName()) > 0 {
 		objectMeta.SetZZZ_DeprecatedClusterName("")
+		warning.AddWarning(ctx, "", "metadata.clusterName was specified. This field is not preserved and will be removed from the schema in 1.25")
 	}
 	// Use the existing UID if none is provided
 	if len(objectMeta.GetUID()) == 0 {