diff --git a/library/file b/library/file
index 64120f4c58b..5fbbf0fbb1c 100755
--- a/library/file
+++ b/library/file
@@ -113,12 +113,6 @@ options:
     description:
       - accepts only C(default) as value. This will restore a file's SELinux context
         in the policy. Does nothing if no default value is available.
-  force:
-    required: false
-    default: null
-    choices: []
-    description:
-      - force is required when changing an existing file to a directory, or a link to a directory, and so on.  Use this with caution.
 examples:
    - code: file path=/etc/foo.conf owner=foo group=foo mode=0644
      description: Example from Ansible Playbooks
@@ -325,7 +319,6 @@ def main():
             state = dict(choices=['file','directory','link','absent'], default='file'),
             path  = dict(aliases=['dest', 'name'], required=True),
             src   = dict(),
-            force = dict(default='no', choices=['yes', 'no']),
             mode  = dict(),
             owner = dict(),
             group = dict(),
@@ -346,7 +339,6 @@ def main():
     src    = params.get('src', None)
     if src:
         src = os.path.expanduser(src)
-    force = module.boolean(params['force'])
 
     if src is not None and os.path.isdir(path):
         params['path'] = path = os.path.join(path, os.path.basename(src))
@@ -399,7 +391,7 @@ def main():
             module_fail_json(path=path, msg=str(e))
         module_exit_json(path=path, changed=True)
 
-    if prev_state != 'absent' and prev_state != state and not force:
+    if prev_state != 'absent' and prev_state != state:
         module_fail_json(path=path, msg='refusing to convert between %s and %s for %s' % (prev_state, state, src))
 
     if prev_state == 'absent' and state == 'absent':
@@ -423,13 +415,6 @@ def main():
         if prev_state == 'absent':
             os.makedirs(path)
             changed = True
-        elif prev_state != 'directory' and force:
-            try:
-                os.unlink(path)
-            except Exception, e:
-                module_fail_json(path=path, msg=str(e))
-            os.makedirs(path)
-            changed = True
 
         # set modes owners and context as needed
         changed = set_context_if_different(path, secontext, changed)
@@ -451,16 +436,6 @@ def main():
         if prev_state == 'absent':
             os.symlink(src, path)
             changed = True
-        elif prev_state != 'link' and force:
-            try:
-                if os.path.isfile(path):
-                    os.unlink(path)
-                else:
-                    shutil.rmtree(path, ignore_errors=False, onerror=rmtree_error)
-            except Exception, e:
-                module_fail_json(path=path, msg=str(e))
-            os.symlink(src, path)
-            changed = True
         elif prev_state == 'link':
             old_src = os.readlink(path)
             if not os.path.isabs(old_src):
diff --git a/test/TestRunner.py b/test/TestRunner.py
index 61d7e2c42b5..d50395c0488 100644
--- a/test/TestRunner.py
+++ b/test/TestRunner.py
@@ -224,65 +224,6 @@ class TestRunner(unittest.TestCase):
         assert not self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent'])['changed']
         os.rmdir(tmp_dir)
 
-
-        filedemo = tempfile.mkstemp()[1]
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=directory', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.isdir(filedemo)
-        os.rmdir(filedemo)
-
-        filedemo = tempfile.mkstemp()[1]
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'src=/dev/null', 'state=link', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.islink(filedemo)
-        os.unlink(filedemo)
-
-        filedemo = tempfile.mkstemp()[1]
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'mode=604', 'state=file', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.isfile(filedemo) and os.stat(filedemo).st_mode == 0100604
-
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert not os.path.exists(filedemo)
-        assert not self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-
-
-        filedemo = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=file', 'force=yes'])['failed']
-        assert os.path.isdir(filedemo)
-
-        result = self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'src=/dev/null', 'state=link', 'force=yes'])
-        assert result['changed']
-        print result
-        assert os.path.islink(filedemo)
-        os.unlink(filedemo)
-
-        filedemo = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'mode=701', 'state=directory', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.isdir(filedemo) and os.stat(filedemo).st_mode == 040701
-        os.path.isdir(filedemo)
-
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert not os.path.exists(filedemo)
-        assert not self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-
-
-        tmp_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        filedemo = os.path.join(tmp_dir, 'link')
-        os.symlink('/dev/zero', filedemo)
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=file', 'force=yes'])['failed']
-        assert os.path.islink(filedemo)
-
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=directory', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.isdir(filedemo)
-        os.rmdir(filedemo)
-
-        os.symlink('/dev/zero', filedemo)
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'src=/dev/null', 'state=link', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert os.path.islink(filedemo) and os.path.realpath(filedemo) == '/dev/null'
-
-        assert self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        assert not os.path.exists(filedemo)
-        assert not self._run('file', ['dest=' + filedemo, 'state=absent', 'force=yes'])['changed']
-        os.rmdir(tmp_dir)
-
     def test_large_output(self):
         large_path = "/usr/share/dict/words"
         if not os.path.exists(large_path):