diff --git a/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.rst b/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.rst
index f23fb7f2a7..6c5bab4d4d 100644
--- a/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.rst
+++ b/bitbake/doc/bitbake-user-manual/bitbake-user-manual-ref-variables.rst
@@ -127,18 +127,6 @@ overview of their function and contents.
       Contains the name of the currently running task. The name does not
       include the ``do_`` prefix.
 
-   :term:`BB_DANGLINGAPPENDS_WARNONLY`
-      Defines how BitBake handles situations where an append file
-      (``.bbappend``) has no corresponding recipe file (``.bb``). This
-      condition often occurs when layers get out of sync (e.g. ``oe-core``
-      bumps a recipe version and the old recipe no longer exists and the
-      other layer has not been updated to the new version of the recipe
-      yet).
-
-      The default fatal behavior is safest because it is the sane reaction
-      given something is out of sync. It is important to realize when your
-      changes are no longer being applied.
-
    :term:`BB_DEFAULT_TASK`
       The default task to use when none is specified (e.g. with the ``-c``
       command line option). The task name specified should not include the
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
index d58c0f575c..a8e0a81dc9 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
@@ -957,13 +957,7 @@ class BBCooker:
                                                                         '\n  '.join(appends_without_recipes[mc])))
 
         if msgs:
-            msg = "\n".join(msgs)
-            warn_only = self.databuilder.mcdata[mc].getVar("BB_DANGLINGAPPENDS_WARNONLY", \
-                False) or "no"
-            if warn_only.lower() in ("1", "yes", "true"):
-                bb.warn(msg)
-            else:
-                bb.fatal(msg)
+            bb.fatal("\n".join(msgs))
 
     def handlePrefProviders(self):