diff --git a/awx/main/utils/handlers.py b/awx/main/utils/handlers.py
index 249c16a119..82d3a285bb 100644
--- a/awx/main/utils/handlers.py
+++ b/awx/main/utils/handlers.py
@@ -294,18 +294,19 @@ class AWXProxyHandler(logging.Handler):
         super(AWXProxyHandler, self).__init__(**kwargs)
         self._handler = None
         self._old_kwargs = {}
-        self._auditor = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(
-            filename='/var/log/tower/external.log',
-            maxBytes=1024 * 1024 * 50, # 50 MB
-            backupCount=5,
-        )
+        if settings.LOG_AGGREGATOR_AUDIT:
+            self._auditor = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(
+                filename='/var/log/tower/external.log',
+                maxBytes=1024 * 1024 * 50, # 50 MB
+                backupCount=5,
+            )
 
-        class WritableLogstashFormatter(LogstashFormatter):
-            @classmethod
-            def serialize(cls, message):
-                return json.dumps(message)
+            class WritableLogstashFormatter(LogstashFormatter):
+                @classmethod
+                def serialize(cls, message):
+                    return json.dumps(message)
 
-        self._auditor.setFormatter(WritableLogstashFormatter())
+            self._auditor.setFormatter(WritableLogstashFormatter())
 
     def get_handler_class(self, protocol):
         return HANDLER_MAPPING.get(protocol, AWXNullHandler)