diff --git a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/io/BaseRecordReader.java b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/io/BaseRecordReader.java
index 8c7f39028f..cca071ea8e 100644
--- a/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/io/BaseRecordReader.java
+++ b/parquet-column/src/main/java/org/apache/parquet/io/BaseRecordReader.java
@@ -26,7 +26,12 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-// TODO(julien): this class appears to be unused -- can it be nuked? - todd
+/**
+ * Base record reader class.
+ *
+ * @deprecated
+ */
+@Deprecated
 public abstract class BaseRecordReader<T> extends RecordReader<T> {
   private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BaseRecordReader.class);