diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-ansible-5-eed0feccaabbb61f.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-ansible-5-eed0feccaabbb61f.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ff959e2d91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-ansible-5-eed0feccaabbb61f.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Ansible versions 5 is now deprecated in Zuul since it is
+    unmaintaned, and it will be removed from a future version of Zuul.
+    Ansible 6 is now the default version in Zuul.
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-versions/git/common-config/zuul.yaml b/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-versions/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
index 497053c904..14477e20dc 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-versions/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/config/ansible-versions/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
@@ -25,16 +25,16 @@
     parent: ansible-version
     vars:
       test_ansible_version_major: 2
-      test_ansible_version_minor: 12
+      test_ansible_version_minor: 13
 
 # This job is used by a test case specifying a different ansible version in
-# zuul.conf
+# fixtures/zuul-default-ansible-version.conf
 - job:
     name: ansible-default-zuul-conf
     parent: ansible-version
     vars:
       test_ansible_version_major: 2
-      test_ansible_version_minor: 13
+      test_ansible_version_minor: 12
 
 - job:
     name: ansible-5
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/zuul-default-ansible-version.conf b/tests/fixtures/zuul-default-ansible-version.conf
index 000f27723a..676516a735 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/zuul-default-ansible-version.conf
+++ b/tests/fixtures/zuul-default-ansible-version.conf
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ server=127.0.0.1
 tenant_config=main.yaml
 relative_priority=true
 # Used by ansible-default-zuul-conf job
-default_ansible_version=6
+default_ansible_version=5
 
 [merger]
 git_dir=/tmp/zuul-test/merger-git
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_web.py b/tests/unit/test_web.py
index d8901fabb8..14df6f96ab 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_web.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_web.py
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ class TestWeb(BaseTestWeb):
 
         job_params = {
             'job': 'project-test1',
-            'ansible_version': '5',
+            'ansible_version': '6',
             'timeout': None,
             'post_timeout': None,
             'items': [],
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ class TestWeb(BaseTestWeb):
             "noop")
 
         job_params = {
-            'ansible_version': '5',
+            'ansible_version': '6',
             'branch': 'master',
             'extra_vars': {},
             'group_vars': {},
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_zk.py b/tests/unit/test_zk.py
index fc6a47b938..237dfc8b57 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_zk.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_zk.py
@@ -1352,7 +1352,7 @@ class TestSystemConfigCache(ZooKeeperBaseTestCase):
             "use_relative_priority": True,
             "max_hold_expiration": 7200,
             "default_hold_expiration": 3600,
-            "default_ansible_version": "5",
+            "default_ansible_version": "6",
             "web_root": "/web/root",
             "web_status_url": "/web/status",
             "websocket_url": "/web/socket",
diff --git a/zuul/lib/ansible-config.conf b/zuul/lib/ansible-config.conf
index 2f4ccd76b4..c2c42a2996 100644
--- a/zuul/lib/ansible-config.conf
+++ b/zuul/lib/ansible-config.conf
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 # This file describes the currently supported ansible versions
 [common]
-default_version = 5
+default_version = 6
 # OpenStackSDK 0.99.0 coincides with CORS header problems in some providers
 requirements = openstacksdk<0.99 openshift jmespath google-cloud-storage pywinrm boto3 azure-storage-blob ibm-cos-sdk netaddr passlib
 
 [5]
 requirements = ansible>=5.0,<6.0
+deprecated = true
 
 [6]
 requirements = ansible>=6.0,<7.0