diff --git a/doc/source/reference/watchers.rst b/doc/source/reference/watchers.rst
deleted file mode 100644
index 0d6c41b5..00000000
--- a/doc/source/reference/watchers.rst
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-==================
- oslo_log.watchers
-==================
-
-.. automodule:: oslo_log.watchers
-   :members:
-   :undoc-members:
-   :show-inheritance:
-
-.. seealso::
-
-   :ref:`using`
diff --git a/oslo_log/log.py b/oslo_log/log.py
index 8899de08..4bb24424 100644
--- a/oslo_log/log.py
+++ b/oslo_log/log.py
@@ -377,10 +377,9 @@ def _setup_logging_from_conf(conf, project, version):
     logpath = _get_log_file_path(conf)
     if logpath:
         # On Windows, in-use files cannot be moved or deleted.
-        if conf.watch_log_file and platform.system() == 'Linux':
-            from oslo_log import watchers
-            file_handler = watchers.FastWatchedFileHandler
-            filelog = file_handler(logpath)
+        if conf.watch_log_file:
+            raise RuntimeError('watch_log_file feature was removed because '
+                               'it has been broken for multiple releases.')
         elif conf.log_rotation_type.lower() == "interval":
             file_handler = logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler
             when = conf.log_rotate_interval_type.lower()
diff --git a/oslo_log/tests/unit/test_log.py b/oslo_log/tests/unit/test_log.py
index 4c34d4c4..d17d20ad 100644
--- a/oslo_log/tests/unit/test_log.py
+++ b/oslo_log/tests/unit/test_log.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import datetime
 import io
 import logging
 import os
-import platform
 import shutil
 import sys
 try:
@@ -154,24 +153,6 @@ class CommonLoggerTestsMixIn(object):
         mock_logger = loggers_mock.return_value.logger
         mock_logger.addHandler.assert_any_call(handler_mock.return_value)
 
-    @mock.patch('oslo_log.watchers.FastWatchedFileHandler')
-    @mock.patch('oslo_log.log._get_log_file_path', return_value='test.conf')
-    @mock.patch('platform.system', return_value='Linux')
-    def test_watchlog_on_linux(self, platfotm_mock, path_mock, handler_mock):
-        self.config(watch_log_file=True)
-        log._setup_logging_from_conf(self.CONF, 'test', 'test')
-        handler_mock.assert_called_once_with(path_mock.return_value)
-        self.assertEqual(self.log_handlers[0], handler_mock.return_value)
-
-    @mock.patch('logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler')
-    @mock.patch('oslo_log.log._get_log_file_path', return_value='test.conf')
-    @mock.patch('platform.system', return_value='Windows')
-    def test_watchlog_on_windows(self, platform_mock, path_mock, handler_mock):
-        self.config(watch_log_file=True)
-        log._setup_logging_from_conf(self.CONF, 'test', 'test')
-        handler_mock.assert_called_once_with(path_mock.return_value)
-        self.assertEqual(self.log_handlers[0], handler_mock.return_value)
-
     @mock.patch('logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler')
     @mock.patch('oslo_log.log._get_log_file_path', return_value='test.conf')
     def test_timed_rotate_log(self, path_mock, handler_mock):
@@ -1363,54 +1344,6 @@ class SetDefaultsTestCase(BaseTestCase):
         self.assertIsNone(self.conf.log_file)
 
 
-@testtools.skipIf(platform.system() != 'Linux',
-                  'pyinotify library works on Linux platform only.')
-class FastWatchedFileHandlerTestCase(BaseTestCase):
-
-    def setUp(self):
-        super(FastWatchedFileHandlerTestCase, self).setUp()
-
-    def _config(self):
-        os_level, log_path = tempfile.mkstemp()
-        log_dir_path = os.path.dirname(log_path)
-        log_file_path = os.path.basename(log_path)
-        self.CONF(['--log-dir', log_dir_path, '--log-file', log_file_path])
-        self.config(use_stderr=False)
-        self.config(watch_log_file=True)
-        log.setup(self.CONF, 'test', 'test')
-        return log_path
-
-    def test_instantiate(self):
-        self._config()
-        logger = log._loggers[None].logger
-        self.assertEqual(1, len(logger.handlers))
-        from oslo_log import watchers
-        self.assertIsInstance(logger.handlers[0],
-                              watchers.FastWatchedFileHandler)
-
-    def test_log(self):
-        log_path = self._config()
-        logger = log._loggers[None].logger
-        text = 'Hello World!'
-        logger.info(text)
-        with open(log_path, 'r') as f:
-            file_content = f.read()
-        self.assertIn(text, file_content)
-
-    def test_move(self):
-        log_path = self._config()
-        os_level_dst, log_path_dst = tempfile.mkstemp()
-        os.rename(log_path, log_path_dst)
-        time.sleep(6)
-        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(log_path))
-
-    def test_remove(self):
-        log_path = self._config()
-        os.remove(log_path)
-        time.sleep(6)
-        self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(log_path))
-
-
 class MutateTestCase(BaseTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         super(MutateTestCase, self).setUp()
diff --git a/oslo_log/watchers.py b/oslo_log/watchers.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d970f9d7..00000000
--- a/oslo_log/watchers.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,111 +0,0 @@
-#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
-#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
-#    a copy of the License at
-#
-#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
-#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-#    under the License.
-
-import errno
-import logging
-import logging.config
-import logging.handlers
-import os
-import pyinotify
-import stat
-import time
-try:
-    import syslog
-except ImportError:
-    syslog = None
-
-"""Linux specific pyinotify based logging handlers"""
-
-
-class _FileKeeper(pyinotify.ProcessEvent):
-    def my_init(self, watched_handler, watched_file):
-        self._watched_handler = watched_handler
-        self._watched_file = watched_file
-
-    def process_default(self, event):
-        if event.name == self._watched_file:
-            self._watched_handler.reopen_file()
-
-
-class _EventletThreadedNotifier(pyinotify.ThreadedNotifier):
-
-    def loop(self):
-        """Eventlet friendly ThreadedNotifier
-
-        EventletFriendlyThreadedNotifier contains additional time.sleep()
-        call insude loop to allow switching to other thread when eventlet
-        is used.
-        It can be used with eventlet and native threads as well.
-        """
-
-        while not self._stop_event.is_set():
-            self.process_events()
-            time.sleep(0)
-            ref_time = time.time()
-            if self.check_events():
-                self._sleep(ref_time)
-                self.read_events()
-
-
-class FastWatchedFileHandler(logging.handlers.WatchedFileHandler, object):
-    """Frequency of reading events.
-
-    Watching thread sleeps max(0, READ_FREQ - (TIMEOUT / 1000)) seconds.
-    """
-    READ_FREQ = 5
-
-    """Poll timeout in milliseconds.
-
-    See https://docs.python.org/2/library/select.html#select.poll.poll"""
-    TIMEOUT = 5
-
-    def __init__(self, logpath, *args, **kwargs):
-        self._log_file = os.path.basename(logpath)
-        self._log_dir = os.path.dirname(logpath)
-        super(FastWatchedFileHandler, self).__init__(logpath, *args, **kwargs)
-        self._watch_file()
-
-    def _watch_file(self):
-        mask = pyinotify.IN_MOVED_FROM | pyinotify.IN_DELETE
-        watch_manager = pyinotify.WatchManager()
-        handler = _FileKeeper(watched_handler=self,
-                              watched_file=self._log_file)
-        notifier = _EventletThreadedNotifier(
-            watch_manager,
-            default_proc_fun=handler,
-            read_freq=FastWatchedFileHandler.READ_FREQ,
-            timeout=FastWatchedFileHandler.TIMEOUT)
-        notifier.daemon = True
-        watch_manager.add_watch(self._log_dir, mask)
-        notifier.start()
-
-    def reopen_file(self):
-        try:
-            # stat the file by path, checking for existence
-            sres = os.stat(self.baseFilename)
-        except OSError as err:
-            if err.errno == errno.ENOENT:
-                sres = None
-            else:
-                raise
-        # compare file system stat with that of our stream file handle
-        if (not sres or
-                sres[stat.ST_DEV] != self.dev or
-                sres[stat.ST_INO] != self.ino):
-            if self.stream is not None:
-                # we have an open file handle, clean it up
-                self.stream.flush()
-                self.stream.close()
-                self.stream = None
-                # open a new file handle and get new stat info from that fd
-                self.stream = self._open()
-                self._statstream()
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-watch-log-file-ba9524ae872e7c01.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-watch-log-file-ba9524ae872e7c01.yaml
index b72f8c77..9b96de6a 100644
--- a/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-watch-log-file-ba9524ae872e7c01.yaml
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/deprecate-watch-log-file-ba9524ae872e7c01.yaml
@@ -3,3 +3,9 @@ deprecations:
   - |
     The ``watch_log_file`` option has been deprecated and will be removed in
     a future release.
+
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    Setting ``[DEFAULT] watch_log_file = True`` now raises RuntimeError while
+    configuring logger. The feature has been broken for multiple cycles and
+    depends on pyinotify library which is not maintained now.