diff --git a/nodeup/pkg/model/sysctls.go b/nodeup/pkg/model/sysctls.go
index a152720c5ae0b..202e18c6f1dcc 100644
--- a/nodeup/pkg/model/sysctls.go
+++ b/nodeup/pkg/model/sysctls.go
@@ -111,11 +111,10 @@ func (b *SysctlBuilder) Build(c *fi.NodeupModelBuilderContext) error {
 			"fs.file-max = 2097152",
 			"",
 
-			"# Max number of inotify instances and watches for a user",
+			"# Max number of inotify instances for a user",
 			"# Since dockerd runs as a single user, the default instances value of 128 per user is too low",
 			"# e.g. uses of inotify: nginx ingress controller, kubectl logs -f",
 			"fs.inotify.max_user_instances = 8192",
-			"fs.inotify.max_user_watches = 524288",
 
 			"# Additional sysctl flags that kubelet expects",
 			"vm.overcommit_memory = 1",