diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/hydra-queue-runner.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/hydra-queue-runner.cc
index 546bd40f..6c7fc14b 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/hydra-queue-runner.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/hydra-queue-runner.cc
@@ -47,6 +47,16 @@ State::State()
     }
 
     logDir = canonPath(hydraData + "/build-logs");
+
+    /* handle deprecated store specification */
+    if (hydraConfig["store_mode"] != "")
+        throw Error("store_mode in hydra.conf is deprecated, please use store_uri");
+    if (hydraConfig["binary_cache_dir"] != "")
+        printMsg(lvlError, "hydra.conf: binary_cache_dir is deprecated and ignored. use store_uri=file:// instead");
+    if (hydraConfig["binary_cache_s3_bucket"] != "")
+        printMsg(lvlError, "hydra.conf: binary_cache_s3_bucket is deprecated and ignored. use store_uri=s3:// instead");
+    if (hydraConfig["binary_cache_secret_key_file"] != "")
+        printMsg(lvlError, "hydra.conf: binary_cache_secret_key_file is deprecated and ignored. use store_uri=...?secret-key= instead");
 }