diff --git a/roles/koschei/templates/config.cfg.j2 b/roles/koschei/templates/config.cfg.j2
index d893920d37..0f1cd2875d 100644
--- a/roles/koschei/templates/config.cfg.j2
+++ b/roles/koschei/templates/config.cfg.j2
@@ -46,7 +46,11 @@ config = {
     },
     "services": {
         "watcher": {
+            {% if env == 'staging' %}
+            "watchdog_interval": None, # there are almost no messages in stg
+            {% else %}
             "watchdog_interval": 600, # in seconds
+            {% endif %}
         },
         "polling": {
             "interval": 20 * 60,