diff --git a/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberBeginWork.js b/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberBeginWork.js
index 7a7e91ef3f01d..035193cfcdcfb 100644
--- a/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberBeginWork.js
+++ b/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberBeginWork.js
@@ -1101,12 +1101,35 @@ function updateContextProvider(
   return workInProgress.child;
 }
 
+let hasWarnedAboutUsingContextAsConsumer = false;
+
 function updateContextConsumer(
   current: Fiber | null,
   workInProgress: Fiber,
   renderExpirationTime: ExpirationTime,
 ) {
-  const context: ReactContext<any> = workInProgress.type;
+  let context: ReactContext<any> = workInProgress.type;
+  // The logic below for Context differs depending on PROD or DEV mode. In
+  // DEV mode, we create a separate object for Context.Consumer that acts
+  // like a proxy to Context. This proxy object adds unnecessary code in PROD
+  // so we use the old behaviour (Context.Consumer references Context) to
+  // reduce size and overhead. The separate object references context via
+  // a property called "_context", which also gives us the ability to check
+  // in DEV mode if this property exists or not and warn if it does not.
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    if ((context: any)._context === undefined) {
+      if (!hasWarnedAboutUsingContextAsConsumer) {
+        hasWarnedAboutUsingContextAsConsumer = true;
+        warning(
+          false,
+          'Rendering <Context> directly is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+            'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Consumer> instead?',
+        );
+      }
+    } else {
+      context = (context: any)._context;
+    }
+  }
   const newProps = workInProgress.pendingProps;
   const render = newProps.children;
 
diff --git a/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactNewContext-test.internal.js b/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactNewContext-test.internal.js
index 9570a25e45bee..03b52dccdc863 100644
--- a/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactNewContext-test.internal.js
+++ b/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactNewContext-test.internal.js
@@ -1190,12 +1190,12 @@ describe('ReactNewContext', () => {
 
       function FooAndBar() {
         return (
-          <FooContext>
+          <FooContext.Consumer>
             {foo => {
               const bar = BarContext.unstable_read();
               return <Text text={`Foo: ${foo}, Bar: ${bar}`} />;
             }}
-          </FooContext>
+          </FooContext.Consumer>
         );
       }
 
@@ -1558,4 +1558,105 @@ Context fuzz tester error! Copy and paste the following line into the test suite
       }
     });
   });
+
+  it('should warn with an error message when using context as a consumer in DEV', () => {
+    const BarContext = React.createContext({value: 'bar-initial'});
+    const BarConsumer = BarContext;
+
+    function Component() {
+      return (
+        <React.Fragment>
+          <BarContext.Provider value={{value: 'bar-updated'}}>
+            <BarConsumer>
+              {({value}) => <div actual={value} expected="bar-updated" />}
+            </BarConsumer>
+          </BarContext.Provider>
+        </React.Fragment>
+      );
+    }
+
+    expect(() => {
+      ReactNoop.render(<Component />);
+      ReactNoop.flush();
+    }).toWarnDev(
+      'Rendering <Context> directly is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+        'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Consumer> instead?',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should warn with an error message when using nested context consumers in DEV', () => {
+    const BarContext = React.createContext({value: 'bar-initial'});
+    const BarConsumer = BarContext;
+
+    function Component() {
+      return (
+        <React.Fragment>
+          <BarContext.Provider value={{value: 'bar-updated'}}>
+            <BarConsumer.Consumer.Consumer>
+              {({value}) => <div actual={value} expected="bar-updated" />}
+            </BarConsumer.Consumer.Consumer>
+          </BarContext.Provider>
+        </React.Fragment>
+      );
+    }
+
+    expect(() => {
+      ReactNoop.render(<Component />);
+      ReactNoop.flush();
+    }).toWarnDev(
+      'Rendering <Context.Consumer.Consumer> is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+        'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Consumer> instead?',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should warn with an error message when using Context.Consumer.unstable_read() DEV', () => {
+    const BarContext = React.createContext({value: 'bar-initial'});
+
+    function Child() {
+      let value = BarContext.Consumer.unstable_read();
+      return <div actual={value} expected="bar-updated" />;
+    }
+
+    function Component() {
+      return (
+        <React.Fragment>
+          <BarContext.Provider value={{value: 'bar-updated'}}>
+            <Child />
+          </BarContext.Provider>
+        </React.Fragment>
+      );
+    }
+
+    expect(() => {
+      ReactNoop.render(<Component />);
+      ReactNoop.flush();
+    }).toWarnDev(
+      'Calling Context.Consumer.unstable_read() is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+        'a future major release. Did you mean to render Context.unstable_read() instead?',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should warn with an error message when using Context.Consumer.Provider DEV', () => {
+    const BarContext = React.createContext({value: 'bar-initial'});
+
+    function Component() {
+      return (
+        <React.Fragment>
+          <BarContext.Consumer.Provider value={{value: 'bar-updated'}}>
+            <BarContext.Consumer>
+              {({value}) => <div actual={value} expected="bar-updated" />}
+            </BarContext.Consumer>
+          </BarContext.Consumer.Provider>
+        </React.Fragment>
+      );
+    }
+
+    expect(() => {
+      ReactNoop.render(<Component />);
+      ReactNoop.flush();
+    }).toWarnDev(
+      'Rendering <Context.Consumer.Provider> is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+        'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Provider> instead?',
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/react/src/ReactContext.js b/packages/react/src/ReactContext.js
index bf63f8dfa7d1a..fa9ff223f83cb 100644
--- a/packages/react/src/ReactContext.js
+++ b/packages/react/src/ReactContext.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import type {ReactContext} from 'shared/ReactTypes';
 
 import invariant from 'shared/invariant';
 import warningWithoutStack from 'shared/warningWithoutStack';
+import warning from 'shared/warning';
 
 import ReactCurrentOwner from './ReactCurrentOwner';
 
@@ -67,9 +68,87 @@ export function createContext<T>(
     $$typeof: REACT_PROVIDER_TYPE,
     _context: context,
   };
-  context.Consumer = context;
+
   context.unstable_read = readContext.bind(null, context);
 
+  let hasWarnedAboutUsingNestedContextConsumers = false;
+  let hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerUnstableRead = false;
+  let hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerProvider = false;
+
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    // A separate object, but proxies back to the original context object for
+    // backwards compatibility. It has a different $$typeof, so we can properly
+    // warn for the incorrect usage of Context as a Consumer.
+    const Consumer = {
+      $$typeof: REACT_CONTEXT_TYPE,
+      _context: context,
+      _calculateChangedBits: context._calculateChangedBits,
+      unstable_read() {
+        if (!hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerUnstableRead) {
+          hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerUnstableRead = true;
+          warning(
+            false,
+            'Calling Context.Consumer.unstable_read() is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+              'a future major release. Did you mean to render Context.unstable_read() instead?',
+          );
+        }
+        return context.unstable_read();
+      },
+    };
+    // $FlowFixMe: Flow complains about not setting a value, which is intentional here
+    Object.defineProperties(Consumer, {
+      Provider: {
+        get() {
+          if (!hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerProvider) {
+            hasWarnedAboutUsingConsumerProvider = true;
+            warning(
+              false,
+              'Rendering <Context.Consumer.Provider> is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+                'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Provider> instead?',
+            );
+          }
+          return context.Provider;
+        },
+        set(_Provider) {
+          context.Provider = _Provider;
+        },
+      },
+      _currentValue: {
+        get() {
+          return context._currentValue;
+        },
+        set(_currentValue) {
+          context._currentValue = _currentValue;
+        },
+      },
+      _currentValue2: {
+        get() {
+          return context._currentValue2;
+        },
+        set(_currentValue2) {
+          context._currentValue2 = _currentValue2;
+        },
+      },
+      Consumer: {
+        get() {
+          if (!hasWarnedAboutUsingNestedContextConsumers) {
+            hasWarnedAboutUsingNestedContextConsumers = true;
+            warning(
+              false,
+              'Rendering <Context.Consumer.Consumer> is not supported and will be removed in ' +
+                'a future major release. Did you mean to render <Context.Consumer> instead?',
+            );
+          }
+          return context.Consumer;
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    // $FlowFixMe: Flow complains about missing properties because it doesn't understand defineProperty
+    context.Consumer = Consumer;
+  } else {
+    context.Consumer = context;
+  }
+
   if (__DEV__) {
     context._currentRenderer = null;
     context._currentRenderer2 = null;