diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 6ed56e3f30..f0980d251d 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 
+2.2-beta-173 | 2013-10-29 09:25:31 -0700
+
+  * Deprecate Broccoli Ruby bindings and no longer build them by
+    default; use --enable-ruby to do so. (Jon Siwek)
+
 2.2-beta-167 | 2013-10-29 06:02:38 -0700
 
   * Change percent_lost in capture-loss from a string to a double.
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index d36febddcf..046a4500be 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -421,6 +421,11 @@ Changed Functionality
   error message:  "error running update-stats".  To fix this problem,
   either remove that file (it is not needed) or rename it.
 
+- Due to lack of maintenance, the Ruby bindings for Broccoli are now
+  deprecated and the build process no longer includes them by default.
+  For the time being, they can still be enabled by configuring with
+  ``--enable-ruby``, however we plan to remove Ruby support with the
+  next Bro release.
 
 Bro 2.1
 =======
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 09220343ac..b7e3b735cd 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.2-beta-167
+2.2-beta-173
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 1990d78569..ba9bf58301 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ Usage: $0 [OPTION]... [VAR=VALUE]...
     --enable-perftools     force use of Google perftools on non-Linux systems
                            (automatically on when perftools is present on Linux)
     --enable-perftools-debug use Google's perftools for debugging
+    --enable-ruby          build ruby bindings for broccoli (deprecated)
     --disable-broccoli     don't build or install the Broccoli library
     --disable-broctl       don't install Broctl
     --disable-auxtools     don't build or install auxiliary tools
     --disable-perftools    don't try to build with Google Perftools
     --disable-python       don't try to build python bindings for broccoli
-    --disable-ruby         don't try to build ruby bindings for broccoli
     --disable-dataseries   don't use the optional DataSeries log writer
     --disable-elasticsearch don't use the optional ElasticSearch log writer
 
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ append_cache_entry INSTALL_BROCTL       BOOL   true
 append_cache_entry CPACK_SOURCE_IGNORE_FILES STRING
 append_cache_entry ENABLE_MOBILE_IPV6   BOOL   false
 append_cache_entry DISABLE_PERFTOOLS    BOOL   false
+append_cache_entry DISABLE_RUBY_BINDINGS     BOOL   true
 
 # parse arguments
 while [ $# -ne 0 ]; do
@@ -174,8 +175,8 @@ while [ $# -ne 0 ]; do
         --disable-python)
             append_cache_entry DISABLE_PYTHON_BINDINGS     BOOL   true
             ;;
-        --disable-ruby)
-            append_cache_entry DISABLE_RUBY_BINDINGS     BOOL   true
+        --enable-ruby)
+            append_cache_entry DISABLE_RUBY_BINDINGS     BOOL   false
             ;;
         --disable-dataseries)
             append_cache_entry DISABLE_DATASERIES     BOOL   true