diff --git a/Doc/library/symtable.rst b/Doc/library/symtable.rst
index 0082287c338..ee2482377de 100644
--- a/Doc/library/symtable.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/symtable.rst
@@ -144,15 +144,6 @@ Examining Symbol Tables
 
       Return ``True`` if the symbol is global.
 
-   .. method:: is_vararg()
-
-      Return ``True`` if the symbol is a star arg (receives varargs).
-
-   .. method:: is_kewordarg()
-
-      Return ``True`` if the symbol is a two-star arg (receives keyword
-      arguments).
-
    .. method:: is_local()
 
       Return ``True`` if the symbol is local to its block.
diff --git a/Lib/symtable.py b/Lib/symtable.py
index 66c0e0354c5..4a5662d2992 100644
--- a/Lib/symtable.py
+++ b/Lib/symtable.py
@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@
 
 import _symtable
 from _symtable import (USE, DEF_GLOBAL, DEF_LOCAL, DEF_PARAM,
-     DEF_STAR, DEF_DOUBLESTAR, DEF_INTUPLE, DEF_FREE,
-     DEF_FREE_GLOBAL, DEF_FREE_CLASS, DEF_IMPORT, DEF_BOUND,
-     OPT_IMPORT_STAR, OPT_EXEC, OPT_BARE_EXEC, SCOPE_OFF, SCOPE_MASK,
-     FREE, GLOBAL_IMPLICIT, GLOBAL_EXPLICIT)
+     DEF_IMPORT, DEF_BOUND, OPT_IMPORT_STAR, OPT_EXEC, OPT_BARE_EXEC,
+     SCOPE_OFF, SCOPE_MASK, FREE, GLOBAL_IMPLICIT, GLOBAL_EXPLICIT)
 
+import warnings
 import weakref
 
 __all__ = ["symtable", "SymbolTable", "newSymbolTable", "Class",
@@ -194,10 +193,14 @@ class Symbol(object):
         return bool(self.__scope in (GLOBAL_IMPLICIT, GLOBAL_EXPLICIT))
 
     def is_vararg(self):
-        return bool(self.__flags & DEF_STAR)
+        warnings.warn("is_vararg() is obsolete and will be removed",
+                      DeprecationWarning, 2)
+        return False
 
     def is_keywordarg(self):
-        return bool(self.__flags & DEF_DOUBLESTAR)
+        warnings.warn("is_keywordarg() is obsolete and will be removed",
+                      DeprecationWarning, 2)
+        return False
 
     def is_local(self):
         return bool(self.__flags & DEF_BOUND)
@@ -212,7 +215,8 @@ class Symbol(object):
         return bool(self.__flags & DEF_LOCAL)
 
     def is_in_tuple(self):
-        return bool(self.__flags & DEF_INTUPLE)
+        warnings.warn("is_in_tuple() is obsolete and will be removed",
+                      DeprecationWarning, 2)
 
     def is_namespace(self):
         """Returns true if name binding introduces new namespace.
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_symtable.py b/Lib/test/test_symtable.py
index fc678a84a9a..05b237a97a2 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_symtable.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_symtable.py
@@ -55,6 +55,22 @@ class SymtableTest(unittest.TestCase):
     internal = find_block(spam, "internal")
     foo = find_block(top, "foo")
 
+    def test_noops(self):
+        # Check methods that don't work. They should warn and return False.
+        def check(w, msg):
+            self.assertEqual(str(w.message), msg)
+        sym = self.top.lookup("glob")
+        with test_support.catch_warning() as w:
+            warnings.simplefilter("always", DeprecationWarning)
+            self.assertFalse(sym.is_vararg())
+            check(w, "is_vararg() is obsolete and will be removed")
+            w.reset()
+            self.assertFalse(sym.is_keywordarg())
+            check(w, "is_keywordarg() is obsolete and will be removed")
+            w.reset()
+            self.assertFalse(sym.is_in_tuple())
+            check(w, "is_in_tuple() is obsolete and will be removed")
+
     def test_type(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.top.get_type(), "module")
         self.assertEqual(self.Mine.get_type(), "class")
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index daba2840930..9aaf5ebfc74 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- The methods ``is_in_tuple()``, ``is_vararg()``, and ``is_keywordarg()`` of
+  symtable.Symbol have been deprecated for removal in 3.0 and the next release.
+
 - Issue #2234: distutils failed for some versions of the cygwin compiler. The
   version reported by these tools does not necessarily follow the python
   version numbering scheme, so the module is less strict when parsing it.