diff --git a/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.8.rst b/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.8.rst
index 091014a3586..9a265b06938 100644
--- a/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.8.rst
+++ b/docs/docsite/rst/porting_guides/porting_guide_2.8.rst
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ The following modules will be removed in Ansible 2.12. Please update your playbo
 * ``katello`` use <https://github.com/theforeman/foreman-ansible-modules> instead.
 * ``github_hooks`` use :ref:`github_webhook <github_webhook_module>` and :ref:`github_webhook_facts <github_webhook_facts_module>` instead.
 * ``digital_ocean`` use :ref `digital_ocean_droplet <digital_ocean_droplet_module>` instead.
+* ``gce`` use :ref `gce_compute_instance <gce_compute_instance_module>` instead.
 
 
 Noteworthy module changes
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/_gce.py
similarity index 99%
rename from lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce.py
rename to lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/_gce.py
index d4db5a36865..d5bd6abf280 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/_gce.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 __metaclass__ = type
 
 ANSIBLE_METADATA = {'metadata_version': '1.1',
-                    'status': ['preview'],
+                    'status': ['deprecated'],
                     'supported_by': 'community'}
 
 DOCUMENTATION = '''
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ description:
        U(https://cloud.google.com/compute) for an overview.
        Full install/configuration instructions for the gce* modules can
        be found in the comments of ansible/test/gce_tests.py.
+deprecated:
+    removed_in: "2.12"
+    why: Updated modules released with increased functionality
+    alternative: Use M(gcp_compute_instance) instead.
 options:
   image:
     description:
diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/no-underscore-variable.py b/test/sanity/code-smell/no-underscore-variable.py
index c5032797021..9640d976c95 100755
--- a/test/sanity/code-smell/no-underscore-variable.py
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/no-underscore-variable.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def main():
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/route53_zone.py',
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/amazon/s3_sync.py',
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/azure/azure_rm_loadbalancer.py',
-        'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce.py',
+        'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/_gce.py',
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_eip.py',
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_img.py',
         'lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_instance_template.py',
diff --git a/test/sanity/validate-modules/ignore.txt b/test/sanity/validate-modules/ignore.txt
index 364c9c47311..35e0f1b20c1 100644
--- a/test/sanity/validate-modules/ignore.txt
+++ b/test/sanity/validate-modules/ignore.txt
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ lib/ansible/modules/cloud/dimensiondata/dimensiondata_vlan.py E326
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gc_storage.py E322
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gc_storage.py E324
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gc_storage.py E326
-lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce.py E326
+lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/_gce.py E326
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_eip.py E322
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_instance_template.py E322
 lib/ansible/modules/cloud/google/gce_instance_template.py E324