diff --git a/doc/source/conf.py b/doc/source/conf.py
index fda641b64..44d81d6c4 100755
--- a/doc/source/conf.py
+++ b/doc/source/conf.py
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('./'))
 # extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom ones.
 extensions = [
     'oslo_config.sphinxext',
-    'sphinxcontrib.apidoc',
     'sphinx.ext.viewcode',
     'sphinxcontrib.httpdomain',
     'sphinxcontrib.pecanwsme.rest',
@@ -51,22 +50,6 @@ config_generator_config_file = [(
     '_static/watcher')]
 sample_config_basename = 'watcher'
 
-# autodoc generation is a bit aggressive and a nuisance when doing heavy
-# text edit cycles.
-# execute "export SPHINX_DEBUG=1" in your terminal to disable
-
-# sphinxcontrib.apidoc options
-apidoc_module_dir = '../../watcher'
-apidoc_output_dir = 'api'
-apidoc_excluded_paths = [
-    'tests/*',
-    'db',
-    'decision_engine',
-    'doc',
-    'objects',
-]
-apidoc_separate_modules = True
-
 # The suffix of source filenames.
 source_suffix = '.rst'
 
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index 700e678eb..83069cc46 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -111,15 +111,6 @@ Watcher Manual Pages
 
    man/index
 
-.. # NOTE(mriedem): This is the section where we hide things that we don't
-   # actually want in the table of contents but sphinx build would fail if
-   # they aren't in the toctree somewhere. For example, we hide api/autoindex
-   # since that's already covered with modindex below.
-.. toctree::
-   :hidden:
-
-   api/modules
-
 
 Indices and tables
 ==================