diff --git a/lib/rhino.rb b/lib/rhino.rb
index d43e2ce..ceae966 100644
--- a/lib/rhino.rb
+++ b/lib/rhino.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ module Rhino
     end
   end
   
-  @@implementation_version = nil
+  @@implementation_version = nil  # :nodoc
   # Helper to resolve what version of Rhino's .jar we're really using.
   def self.implementation_version
     @@implementation_version ||= begin
@@ -33,6 +33,24 @@ module Rhino
     end
   end
   
+  @@silence = java.lang.Boolean.getBoolean('rhino.silence') # :nodoc
+  # Should we be silent - no warnings will be printed.
+  def self.silence?; @@silence; end
+  # Silence ! (... or I kill you)
+  def self.silence!; @@silence = true; end
+
+  @@warnings = {} # :nodoc
+  
+  def self.warn(msg) # :nodoc
+    return if silence?
+    # only print out deprecations once (even when non-silent)
+    if msg[0, 13] == '[DEPRECATION]'
+      return nil if @@warnings[msg]
+      @@warnings[msg] = true
+    end
+    super # Kernel.warn
+  end
+
 end
 
 require 'rhino/version'
diff --git a/lib/rhino/deprecations.rb b/lib/rhino/deprecations.rb
index 54576b5..3664b14 100644
--- a/lib/rhino/deprecations.rb
+++ b/lib/rhino/deprecations.rb
@@ -21,30 +21,19 @@ module Rhino
     end
   end
   
-  @@warnings = {}
-  
-  def self.warn(msg) # :nodoc
-    # only print out deprecation warnings once
-    if msg[0, 13] == '[DEPRECATION]'
-      return nil if @@warnings[msg]
-      @@warnings[msg] = true
-    end
-    super # Kernel.warn
-  end
-  
   module To # :nodoc
   
     extend self
 
     # #deprecated use {Rhino#to_ruby} instead
     def self.ruby(object)
-      Rhino.warn "[DEPRECATION] `Rhino::To.ruby` is deprecated, use `Rhino.to_ruby` instead."
+      warn "[DEPRECATION] `Rhino::To.ruby` is deprecated, use `Rhino.to_ruby` instead."
       to_ruby(object)
     end
 
     # #deprecated use {Rhino#to_javascript} instead
     def self.javascript(object, scope = nil) 
-      Rhino.warn "[DEPRECATION] `Rhino::To.javascript` is deprecated, use `Rhino.to_javascript` instead."
+      warn "[DEPRECATION] `Rhino::To.javascript` is deprecated, use `Rhino.to_javascript` instead."
       to_javascript(object, scope)
     end