diff --git a/History.txt b/History.txt
index e794edb132..ddfced9666 100644
--- a/History.txt
+++ b/History.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
   * Calls to `insert` are deprecated. Please use `compile_insert` then call
   `to_sql` on the resulting object and execute that SQL.
 
+  * Calls to `update` are deprecated. Please use `compile_update` then call
+  `to_sql` on the resulting object and execute that SQL.
+
 == 2.0.6 12/01/2010
 
 * Bug Fixes
diff --git a/lib/arel/crud.rb b/lib/arel/crud.rb
index 8de008c09e..06883d9ac6 100644
--- a/lib/arel/crud.rb
+++ b/lib/arel/crud.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@ module Arel
   ###
   # FIXME hopefully we can remove this
   module Crud
-    # FIXME: this method should go away
-    def update values
+    def compile_update values
       um = UpdateManager.new @engine
 
       if Nodes::SqlLiteral === values
@@ -16,7 +15,19 @@ module Arel
       um.take @ast.limit
       um.order(*@ast.orders)
       um.wheres = @ctx.wheres
+      um
+    end
 
+    # FIXME: this method should go away
+    def update values
+      if $VERBOSE
+        warn <<-eowarn
+update (#{caller.first}) is deprecated and will be removed in ARel 2.2.0. Please
+switch to `compile_update`
+        eowarn
+      end
+
+      um = compile_update values
       @engine.connection.update um.to_sql, 'AREL'
     end
 
diff --git a/test/test_crud.rb b/test/test_crud.rb
index 582f0ec072..0a727bce0a 100644
--- a/test/test_crud.rb
+++ b/test/test_crud.rb
@@ -47,10 +47,8 @@ module Arel
         table = Table.new :users
         fc = FakeCrudder.new
         fc.from table
-        fc.update [[table[:id], 'foo']]
-        fc.engine.calls.find { |method, _|
-          method == :update
-        }.wont_be_nil
+        stmt = fc.compile_update [[table[:id], 'foo']]
+        assert_instance_of Arel::UpdateManager, stmt
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/test/test_select_manager.rb b/test/test_select_manager.rb
index d63bec0093..ee4341c1ce 100644
--- a/test/test_select_manager.rb
+++ b/test/test_select_manager.rb
@@ -312,7 +312,6 @@ module Arel
         manager.join_sql.must_be_like %{
           INNER JOIN "users" "users_2" "users"."id" = "users_2"."id"
         }
-        manager.joins(manager).must_equal manager.join_sql
       end
 
       it 'returns outer join sql' do
@@ -323,7 +322,6 @@ module Arel
         manager.join_sql.must_be_like %{
           LEFT OUTER JOIN "users" "users_2" "users"."id" = "users_2"."id"
         }
-        manager.joins(manager).must_equal manager.join_sql
       end
 
       it 'returns string join sql' do
@@ -331,7 +329,6 @@ module Arel
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new Table.engine
         manager.from Nodes::StringJoin.new(table, 'hello')
         manager.join_sql.must_be_like %{ 'hello' }
-        manager.joins(manager).must_equal manager.join_sql
       end
 
       it 'returns nil join sql' do
@@ -436,9 +433,9 @@ module Arel
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new engine
         manager.from table
         manager.take 1
-        manager.update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
+        stmt = manager.compile_update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
 
-        engine.executed.last.must_be_like %{
+        stmt.to_sql.must_be_like %{
           UPDATE "users" SET foo = bar
           WHERE "users"."id" IN (SELECT "users"."id" FROM "users" LIMIT 1)
         }
@@ -450,9 +447,9 @@ module Arel
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new engine
         manager.from table
         manager.order :foo
-        manager.update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
+        stmt = manager.compile_update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
 
-        engine.executed.last.must_be_like %{
+        stmt.to_sql.must_be_like %{
           UPDATE "users" SET foo = bar
           WHERE "users"."id" IN (SELECT "users"."id" FROM "users" ORDER BY foo)
         }
@@ -463,9 +460,9 @@ module Arel
         table   = Table.new :users
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new engine
         manager.from table
-        manager.update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
+        stmt = manager.compile_update(SqlLiteral.new('foo = bar'))
 
-        engine.executed.last.must_be_like %{ UPDATE "users" SET foo = bar }
+        stmt.to_sql.must_be_like %{ UPDATE "users" SET foo = bar }
       end
 
       it 'copies where clauses' do
@@ -474,9 +471,9 @@ module Arel
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new engine
         manager.where table[:id].eq 10
         manager.from table
-        manager.update(table[:id] => 1)
+        stmt = manager.compile_update(table[:id] => 1)
 
-        engine.executed.last.must_be_like %{
+        stmt.to_sql.must_be_like %{
           UPDATE "users" SET "id" = 1 WHERE "users"."id" = 10
         }
       end
@@ -486,9 +483,9 @@ module Arel
         table   = Table.new :users
         manager = Arel::SelectManager.new engine
         manager.from table
-        manager.update(table[:id] => 1)
+        stmt = manager.compile_update(table[:id] => 1)
 
-        engine.executed.last.must_be_like %{
+        stmt.to_sql.must_be_like %{
           UPDATE "users" SET "id" = 1
         }
       end
diff --git a/test/test_table.rb b/test/test_table.rb
index b9998174a1..93cdde8f68 100644
--- a/test/test_table.rb
+++ b/test/test_table.rb
@@ -48,12 +48,6 @@ module Arel
     end
 
     describe 'backwards compat' do
-      describe 'joins' do
-        it 'returns nil' do
-          @relation.joins(nil).must_equal nil
-        end
-      end
-
       describe 'join' do
         it 'noops on nil' do
           mgr = @relation.join nil