diff --git a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.c b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.c
index 7177e30e6ed5..a7dbe08c0d4f 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.c
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ __FBSDID("$FreeBSD$");
  */
 #define	CE_COMPACT	0x0001	/* Compact the achived log files with gzip. */
 #define	CE_BZCOMPACT	0x0002	/* Compact the achived log files with bzip2. */
-#define	CE_COMPACTWAIT	0x0004	/* wait until compressing one file finishes */
-				/*    before starting the next step. */
 #define	CE_BINARY	0x0008	/* Logfile is in binary, do not add status */
 				/*    messages to logfile(s) when rotating. */
 #define	CE_NOSIGNAL	0x0010	/* There is no process to signal when */
@@ -1225,7 +1223,7 @@ no_trimat:
 				working->flags |= CE_SIGNALGROUP;
 				break;
 			case 'w':
-				working->flags |= CE_COMPACTWAIT;
+				/* Depreciated flag - keep for compatibility purposes */
 				break;
 			case 'z':
 				working->flags |= CE_COMPACT;
diff --git a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5 b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
index 16a3185ef89c..e848d693a798 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
+++ b/usr.sbin/newsyslog/newsyslog.conf.5
@@ -296,21 +296,6 @@ indicates that the file specified by
 will contain the ID for a process group instead of a process.
 This option also requires that the first line in that file
 be a negative value to distinguish it from a process ID.
-.It Cm W
-if used with the
-.Cm Z
-or
-.Cm J
-flag, this indicates that
-.Xr newsyslog 8
-should wait for previously started compression jobs to complete before
-starting a new one for this entry.
-If this is used with the
-.Cm G
-flag and if multiple log files match the given pattern, then
-.Xr newsyslog 8
-will compress those logs one by one.
-This ensures that only one compression job is running at a time.
 .It Cm Z
 indicates that
 .Xr newsyslog 8