diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 9db2ac2e..b044af66 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -371,6 +371,7 @@ if 1:
 		'sys/devpoll.h',
 		'sys/epoll.h',
 		'sys/filio.h',
+		'sys/inotify.h',
 		'sys/loadavg.h',
 		'sys/poll.h',
 		'sys/port.h',
@@ -519,7 +520,7 @@ if 1:
 			LIBDBI = 'dbi',
 		)
 
-	if env['with_fam']:
+	if env['with_fam'] and not self.CheckCHeader('sys/inotify.h'):
 		if not autoconf.CheckLibWithHeader('fam', 'fam.h', 'C'):
 			fail("Couldn't find fam")
 		autoconf.env.Append(
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 246692a9..97ced9ea 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADERS([\
   sys/epoll.h \
   sys/event.h \
   sys/filio.h \
+  sys/inotify.h \
   sys/loadavg.h \
   sys/mman.h \
   sys/poll.h \
@@ -1036,6 +1037,10 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([fam],
 )
 AC_MSG_RESULT([$WITH_FAM])
 
+if test "$HAVE_SYS_NOTIFY_H" != no; then
+  WITH_FAM=no
+fi
+
 if test "$WITH_FAM" != no; then
   if test "$WITH_FAM" != yes; then
     FAM_LIBS="-L$WITH_FAM -lfam"
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d6c24f72..491e6bd8 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ check_include_files(sys/epoll.h HAVE_SYS_EPOLL_H)
 set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "-include sys/types.h")
 check_include_files(sys/event.h HAVE_SYS_EVENT_H)
 set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS)
+check_include_files(sys/inotify.h HAVE_SYS_INOTIFY_H)
 check_include_files(sys/mman.h HAVE_SYS_MMAN_H)
 check_include_files(sys/loadavg.h HAVE_SYS_LOADAVG_H)
 check_include_files(sys/poll.h HAVE_SYS_POLL_H)
@@ -654,7 +655,7 @@ else()
 	unset(HAVE_LUA_H)
 endif()
 
-if(WITH_FAM)
+if(WITH_FAM AND NOT HAVE_SYS_INOTIFY_H)
 	check_include_files(fam.h HAVE_FAM_H)
 	check_library_exists(fam FAMOpen2 "" HAVE_LIBFAM)
 	if(HAVE_LIBFAM)
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index c618a3b7..71e4ec90 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ conf_data = configuration_data()
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_DEVPOLL_H', compiler.has_header('sys/devpoll.h'))
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_EPOLL_H', compiler.has_header('sys/epoll.h'))
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_EVENT_H', compiler.has_header('sys/event.h'))
+conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_INOTIFY_H', compiler.has_header('sys/inotify.h'))
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_LOADAVG_H', compiler.has_header('sys/loadavg.h'))
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_MMAN_H', compiler.has_header('sys/mman.h'))
 conf_data.set('HAVE_SYS_POLL_H', compiler.has_header('sys/poll.h'))
@@ -259,7 +260,7 @@ if get_option('with_dbi')
 endif
 
 libfam = []
-if get_option('with_fam')
+if get_option('with_fam') and not(conf_data.get('HAVE_SYS_INOTIFY_H'))
 	libfam = [ compiler.find_library('fam') ]
 	if not(compiler.has_function('FAMOpen2', args: defs, dependencies: libfam, prefix: '#include <fam.h>'))
 		error('Couldn\'t find fam.h or FAMOpen2 in lib fam')