diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-mandatory.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-mandatory.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c060e0add29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/gitaly-mandatory.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+title: Remove option to disable Gitaly
+merge_request: 12677
+author:
diff --git a/config/gitlab.yml.example b/config/gitlab.yml.example
index 1eb209ac2be..75d03de18a1 100644
--- a/config/gitlab.yml.example
+++ b/config/gitlab.yml.example
@@ -450,10 +450,6 @@ production: &base
 
   # Gitaly settings
   gitaly:
-    # This setting controls whether GitLab uses Gitaly (new component
-    # introduced in 9.0). Eventually Gitaly use will become mandatory and
-    # this option will disappear.
-    enabled: true
     # Default Gitaly authentication token. Can be overriden per storage. Can
     # be left blank when Gitaly is running locally on a Unix socket, which
     # is the normal way to deploy Gitaly.
diff --git a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
index cb11d2c34f4..fa33e602e93 100644
--- a/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/1_settings.rb
@@ -483,7 +483,6 @@ Settings.rack_attack.git_basic_auth['bantime'] ||= 1.hour
 # Gitaly
 #
 Settings['gitaly'] ||= Settingslogic.new({})
-Settings.gitaly['enabled'] = true if Settings.gitaly['enabled'].nil?
 
 #
 # Webpack settings
diff --git a/config/initializers/8_gitaly.rb b/config/initializers/8_gitaly.rb
index 31c7c91d78f..f4f116e67f7 100644
--- a/config/initializers/8_gitaly.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/8_gitaly.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 require 'uri'
 
-if Gitlab.config.gitaly.enabled || Rails.env.test?
-  Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.keys.each do |storage|
-    # Force validation of each address
-    Gitlab::GitalyClient.address(storage)
-  end
+Gitlab.config.repositories.storages.keys.each do |storage|
+  # Force validation of each address
+  Gitlab::GitalyClient.address(storage)
 end
diff --git a/doc/README.md b/doc/README.md
index fa755852304..ebf1a0415d2 100644
--- a/doc/README.md
+++ b/doc/README.md
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ have access to GitLab administration tools and settings.
 
 ### Admin tools
 
+- [Gitaly](administration/gitaly/index.md): Configuring Gitaly, GitLab's Git repository storage service
 - [Raketasks](raketasks/README.md): Backups, maintenance, automatic webhook setup and the importing of projects.
     - [Backup and restore](raketasks/backup_restore.md): Backup and restore your GitLab instance.
 - [Reply by email](administration/reply_by_email.md): Allow users to comment on issues and merge requests by replying to notification emails.
diff --git a/doc/administration/gitaly/index.md b/doc/administration/gitaly/index.md
index 332457cb384..5732b6a1ca4 100644
--- a/doc/administration/gitaly/index.md
+++ b/doc/administration/gitaly/index.md
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 
 [Gitaly](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitaly) (introduced in GitLab
 9.0) is a service that provides high-level RPC access to Git
-repositories. As of GitLab 9.3 it is still an optional component with
-limited scope.
+repositories. Gitaly is a mandatory component in GitLab 9.4 and newer.
 
 GitLab components that access Git repositories (gitlab-rails,
 gitlab-shell, gitlab-workhorse) act as clients to Gitaly. End users do
@@ -149,6 +148,8 @@ git_data_dirs({
   { 'default' => { 'path' => '/mnt/gitlab/default', 'gitaly_address' => 'tcp://gitlab.internal:9999' } },
   { 'storage1' => { 'path' => '/mnt/gitlab/storage1', 'gitaly_address' => 'tcp://gitlab.internal:9999' } },
 })
+
+gitlab_rails['gitaly_token'] = 'abc123secret'
 ```
 
 Source installations:
@@ -164,6 +165,9 @@ gitlab:
       storage1:
         path: /mnt/gitlab/storage1/repositories
         gitaly_address: tcp://gitlab.internal:9999
+
+  gitaly:
+    token: 'abc123secret'
 ```
 
 Now reconfigure (Omnibus) or restart (source). When you tail the
@@ -172,36 +176,11 @@ Gitaly logs on your Gitaly server (`sudo gitlab-ctl tail gitaly` or
 coming in. One sure way to trigger a Gitaly request is to clone a
 repository from your GitLab server over HTTP.
 
-## Configuring GitLab to not use Gitaly
-
-Gitaly is still an optional component in GitLab 9.3. This means you
-can choose to not use it.
-
-In Omnibus you can make the following change in
-`/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and reconfigure. This will both disable the
-Gitaly service and configure the rest of GitLab not to use it.
-
-```ruby
-gitaly['enable'] = false
-```
-
-In source installations, edit `/home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml` and
-make sure `enabled` in the `gitaly` section is set to 'false'. This
-does not disable the Gitaly service in your init script; it only
-prevents it from being used.
-
-Apply the change with `service gitlab restart`.
-
-```yaml
-  gitaly:
-    enabled: false
-```
-
 ## Disabling or enabling the Gitaly service
 
-Be careful: if you disable Gitaly without instructing the rest of your
-GitLab installation not to use Gitaly, you may end up with errors
-because GitLab tries to access a service that is not running.
+If you are running Gitaly [as a remote
+service](#running-gitaly-on-its-own-server) you may want to disable
+the local Gitaly service that runs on your Gitlab server by default.
 
 To disable the Gitaly service in your Omnibus installation, add the
 following line to `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:
@@ -220,4 +199,4 @@ following to `/etc/default/gitlab`:
 gitaly_enabled=false
 ```
 
-When you run `service gitlab restart` Gitaly will be disabled.
\ No newline at end of file
+When you run `service gitlab restart` Gitaly will be disabled.
diff --git a/doc/update/9.3-to-9.4.md b/doc/update/9.3-to-9.4.md
index a712ce5a8b1..bbb7f4a8d48 100644
--- a/doc/update/9.3-to-9.4.md
+++ b/doc/update/9.3-to-9.4.md
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ sudo -u git -H make
 If you have not yet set up Gitaly then follow [Gitaly section of the installation
 guide](../install/installation.md#install-gitaly).
 
+As of GitLab 9.4, Gitaly is a mandatory component of GitLab.
+
 #### Check Gitaly configuration
 
 Due to a bug in the `rake gitlab:gitaly:install` script your Gitaly
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/gitaly_client.rb b/lib/gitlab/gitaly_client.rb
index f605c06dfc3..197a94487eb 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/gitaly_client.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/gitaly_client.rb
@@ -70,12 +70,8 @@ module Gitlab
       params['gitaly_token'].presence || Gitlab.config.gitaly['token']
     end
 
-    def self.enabled?
-      Gitlab.config.gitaly.enabled
-    end
-
     def self.feature_enabled?(feature, status: MigrationStatus::OPT_IN)
-      return false if !enabled? || status == MigrationStatus::DISABLED
+      return false if status == MigrationStatus::DISABLED
 
       feature = Feature.get("gitaly_#{feature}")
 
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/workhorse.rb b/lib/gitlab/workhorse.rb
index f96ee69096d..4aef23b6aee 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/workhorse.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/workhorse.rb
@@ -25,27 +25,25 @@ module Gitlab
           RepoPath: repo_path
         }
 
-        if Gitlab.config.gitaly.enabled
-          server = {
-            address: Gitlab::GitalyClient.address(project.repository_storage),
-            token: Gitlab::GitalyClient.token(project.repository_storage)
-          }
-          params[:Repository] = repository.gitaly_repository.to_h
+        server = {
+          address: Gitlab::GitalyClient.address(project.repository_storage),
+          token: Gitlab::GitalyClient.token(project.repository_storage)
+        }
+        params[:Repository] = repository.gitaly_repository.to_h
 
-          feature_enabled = case action.to_s
-                            when 'git_receive_pack'
-                              Gitlab::GitalyClient.feature_enabled?(:post_receive_pack)
-                            when 'git_upload_pack'
-                              Gitlab::GitalyClient.feature_enabled?(:post_upload_pack)
-                            when 'info_refs'
-                              true
-                            else
-                              raise "Unsupported action: #{action}"
-                            end
-          if feature_enabled
-            params[:GitalyAddress] = server[:address] # This field will be deprecated
-            params[:GitalyServer] = server
-          end
+        feature_enabled = case action.to_s
+                          when 'git_receive_pack'
+                            Gitlab::GitalyClient.feature_enabled?(:post_receive_pack)
+                          when 'git_upload_pack'
+                            Gitlab::GitalyClient.feature_enabled?(:post_upload_pack)
+                          when 'info_refs'
+                            true
+                          else
+                            raise "Unsupported action: #{action}"
+                          end
+        if feature_enabled
+          params[:GitalyAddress] = server[:address] # This field will be deprecated
+          params[:GitalyServer] = server
         end
 
         params
diff --git a/spec/support/gitaly.rb b/spec/support/gitaly.rb
index 2bf159002a0..89fb362cf14 100644
--- a/spec/support/gitaly.rb
+++ b/spec/support/gitaly.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
-if Gitlab::GitalyClient.enabled?
-  RSpec.configure do |config|
-    config.before(:each) do |example|
-      next if example.metadata[:skip_gitaly_mock]
-      allow(Gitlab::GitalyClient).to receive(:feature_enabled?).and_return(true)
-    end
+RSpec.configure do |config|
+  config.before(:each) do |example|
+    next if example.metadata[:skip_gitaly_mock]
+    allow(Gitlab::GitalyClient).to receive(:feature_enabled?).and_return(true)
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/support/test_env.rb b/spec/support/test_env.rb
index 32546abcad4..0cae5620920 100644
--- a/spec/support/test_env.rb
+++ b/spec/support/test_env.rb
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ module TestEnv
     # Setup GitLab shell for test instance
     setup_gitlab_shell
 
-    setup_gitaly if Gitlab::GitalyClient.enabled?
+    setup_gitaly
 
     # Create repository for FactoryGirl.create(:project)
     setup_factory_repo