diff --git a/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config.go b/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config.go
index 25e9b02e961..682f9e2c451 100644
--- a/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config.go
+++ b/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config.go
@@ -85,9 +85,23 @@ func (s *Source) Configure(_ context.Context, yamlConfig []byte, logger *log.Ent
 	s.tailMapMutex = &sync.RWMutex{}
 	s.tails = make(map[string]bool)
 
-	s.watcher, err = fsnotify.NewWatcher()
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not create fsnotify watcher: %w", err)
+	if s.config.Mode == configuration.TAIL_MODE {
+		s.watcher, err = fsnotify.NewWatcher()
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("could not create fsnotify watcher: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		defer func() {
+			if err == nil || s.watcher == nil {
+				return
+			}
+
+			if closeErr := s.watcher.Close(); closeErr != nil {
+				s.logger.Errorf("could not close fsnotify watcher after configure failure: %s", closeErr)
+			}
+
+			s.watcher = nil
+		}()
 	}
 
 	s.logger.Tracef("Actual FileAcquisition Configuration %+v", s.config)
diff --git a/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config_internal_test.go b/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config_internal_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..562c40f7af2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/acquisition/modules/file/config_internal_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package fileacquisition
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
+	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/crowdsecurity/crowdsec/pkg/metrics"
+)
+
+func TestConfigureCatModeDoesNotCreateWatcher(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	f := &Source{}
+
+	err := f.Configure(ctx, []byte(`
+mode: cat
+filename: testdata/test.log
+`), log.NewEntry(log.New()), metrics.AcquisitionMetricsLevelNone)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Nil(t, f.watcher)
+}
+
+func TestConfigureClosesWatcherOnTailModeError(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := t.Context()
+	f := &Source{}
+
+	probe, err := fsnotify.NewWatcher()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skipf("cannot allocate fsnotify watcher in this environment: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	require.NoError(t, probe.Close())
+
+	err = f.Configure(ctx, []byte(`
+mode: tail
+filename: "[*-.log"
+`), log.NewEntry(log.New()), metrics.AcquisitionMetricsLevelNone)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "glob failure: syntax error in pattern")
+
+	assert.Nil(t, f.watcher)
+}