diff --git a/paddle/fluid/platform/cudnn_helper.h b/paddle/fluid/platform/cudnn_helper.h
index 0f4a7c8485b21e36dac46c5a87c2445275a3195e..6ea4f8b7cba18ce7f803dbd9b15a7ae70c3055f2 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/platform/cudnn_helper.h
+++ b/paddle/fluid/platform/cudnn_helper.h
@@ -81,6 +81,27 @@ enum class PoolingMode {
   kMaximumDeterministic,
 };
 
+#if CUDNN_VERSION < 6000
+#pragma message "CUDNN version under 6.0 is supported at best effort."
+#pragma message "We strongly encourage you to move to 6.0 and above."
+#pragma message "This message is intended to annoy you enough to update."
+#pragma message \
+    "please see https://docs.nvidia.com/deeplearning/sdk/cudnn-release-notes/"
+
+inline cudnnPoolingMode_t GetPoolingMode(const PoolingMode& mode) {
+  switch (mode) {
+    case PoolingMode::kMaximumDeterministic:
+      return CUDNN_POOLING_MAX;
+    case PoolingMode::kAverage:
+      return CUDNN_POOLING_AVERAGE_COUNT_EXCLUDE_PADDING;
+    case PoolingMode::kMaximum:
+      return CUDNN_POOLING_MAX;
+    default:
+      PADDLE_THROW("Unexpected pooling mode.");
+  }
+}
+#else
+
 inline cudnnPoolingMode_t GetPoolingMode(const PoolingMode& mode) {
   switch (mode) {
     case PoolingMode::kMaximumDeterministic:
@@ -93,6 +114,7 @@ inline cudnnPoolingMode_t GetPoolingMode(const PoolingMode& mode) {
       PADDLE_THROW("Unexpected pooling mode.");
   }
 }
+#endif  // CUDNN_VERSION < 6000
 
 template <typename T>
 class CudnnDataType;