diff --git a/doc/api/fs.markdown b/doc/api/fs.markdown
index bb90cc8d2e3f4e..985a4e4c967a0f 100644
--- a/doc/api/fs.markdown
+++ b/doc/api/fs.markdown
@@ -576,6 +576,9 @@ These stat objects are instances of `fs.Stat`.
 If you want to be notified when the file was modified, not just accessed
 you need to compare `curr.mtime` and `prev.mtime`.
 
+_Note: when an `fs.watchFile` operation results in an `ENOENT` error, it will
+invoke the callback once. This is a change in functionality since v0.10._
+
 _Note: `fs.watch` is more efficient than `fs.watchFile` and `fs.unwatchFile`.
 `fs.watch` should be used instead of `fs.watchFile` and `fs.unwatchFile`
 when possible._
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-fs-watchfile.js b/test/parallel/test-fs-watchfile.js
index a64858ce0f7154..eacb2f9d821982 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-fs-watchfile.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-fs-watchfile.js
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 'use strict';
 
 const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
 const assert = require('assert');
+const common = require('../common');
+const fixtures = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'fixtures');
 
 // Basic usage tests.
 assert.throws(function() {
@@ -15,3 +18,9 @@ assert.throws(function() {
 assert.throws(function() {
   fs.watchFile(new Object(), function() {});
 }, /Path must be a string/);
+
+// Test ENOENT. Should fire once.
+const enoentFile = path.join(fixtures, 'empty', 'non-existent-file');
+fs.watchFile(enoentFile, common.mustCall(function(curr, prev) {
+  fs.unwatchFile(enoentFile);
+}));