diff --git a/softmmu/vl.c b/softmmu/vl.c
index afd2615fb3..63eeb6ae1b 100644
--- a/softmmu/vl.c
+++ b/softmmu/vl.c
@@ -3531,8 +3531,10 @@ void qemu_init(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
                 no_shutdown = 1;
                 break;
             case QEMU_OPTION_show_cursor:
-                warn_report("The -show-cursor option is deprecated, "
-                            "use -display {sdl,gtk},show-cursor=on instead");
+                warn_report("The -show-cursor option is deprecated. Please "
+                            "add show-cursor=on to your -display options.");
+                warn_report("When using the default display you can use "
+                            "-display default,show-cursor=on");
                 dpy.has_show_cursor = true;
                 dpy.show_cursor = true;
                 break;