diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
index 410209b9f..2a9a9d022 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr.cpp
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
 #include <ext4_utils/ext4_utils.h>
 #include <ext4_utils/wipe.h>
 #include <fs_avb/fs_avb.h>
+#include <fs_mgr/file_wait.h>
 #include <fs_mgr_overlayfs.h>
 #include <libdm/dm.h>
 #include <liblp/metadata_format.h>
@@ -116,28 +117,6 @@ enum FsStatFlags {
     FS_STAT_ENABLE_VERITY_FAILED = 0x80000,
 };
 
-// TODO: switch to inotify()
-bool fs_mgr_wait_for_file(const std::string& filename,
-                          const std::chrono::milliseconds relative_timeout,
-                          FileWaitMode file_wait_mode) {
-    auto start_time = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
-
-    while (true) {
-        int rv = access(filename.c_str(), F_OK);
-        if (file_wait_mode == FileWaitMode::Exists) {
-            if (!rv || errno != ENOENT) return true;
-        } else if (file_wait_mode == FileWaitMode::DoesNotExist) {
-            if (rv && errno == ENOENT) return true;
-        }
-
-        std::this_thread::sleep_for(50ms);
-
-        auto now = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
-        auto time_elapsed = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(now - start_time);
-        if (time_elapsed > relative_timeout) return false;
-    }
-}
-
 static void log_fs_stat(const std::string& blk_device, int fs_stat) {
     if ((fs_stat & FS_STAT_IS_EXT4) == 0) return; // only log ext4
     std::string msg =
@@ -1103,8 +1082,7 @@ int fs_mgr_mount_all(Fstab* fstab, int mount_mode) {
             continue;
         }
 
-        if (current_entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait &&
-            !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(current_entry.blk_device, 20s)) {
+        if (current_entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait && !WaitForFile(current_entry.blk_device, 20s)) {
             LERROR << "Skipping '" << current_entry.blk_device << "' during mount_all";
             continue;
         }
@@ -1373,7 +1351,7 @@ static int fs_mgr_do_mount_helper(Fstab* fstab, const std::string& n_name,
         }
 
         // First check the filesystem if requested.
-        if (fstab_entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(n_blk_device, 20s)) {
+        if (fstab_entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait && !WaitForFile(n_blk_device, 20s)) {
             LERROR << "Skipping mounting '" << n_blk_device << "'";
             continue;
         }
@@ -1576,7 +1554,7 @@ bool fs_mgr_swapon_all(const Fstab& fstab) {
             fprintf(zram_fp.get(), "%" PRId64 "\n", entry.zram_size);
         }
 
-        if (entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(entry.blk_device, 20s)) {
+        if (entry.fs_mgr_flags.wait && !WaitForFile(entry.blk_device, 20s)) {
             LERROR << "Skipping mkswap for '" << entry.blk_device << "'";
             ret = false;
             continue;
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_dm_linear.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_dm_linear.cpp
index ee6ffdb18..1f21a7176 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_dm_linear.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_dm_linear.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <android-base/stringprintf.h>
 #include <android-base/strings.h>
 #include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
+#include <fs_mgr/file_wait.h>
 #include <liblp/reader.h>
 
 #include "fs_mgr_priv.h"
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ static bool CreateLogicalPartition(const LpMetadata& metadata, const LpMetadataP
         return false;
     }
     if (timeout_ms > std::chrono::milliseconds::zero()) {
-        if (!fs_mgr_wait_for_file(*path, timeout_ms, FileWaitMode::Exists)) {
+        if (!WaitForFile(*path, timeout_ms)) {
             DestroyLogicalPartition(name, {});
             LERROR << "Timed out waiting for device path: " << *path;
             return false;
@@ -202,7 +203,7 @@ bool UnmapDevice(const std::string& name, const std::chrono::milliseconds& timeo
     if (!dm.DeleteDevice(name)) {
         return false;
     }
-    if (!path.empty() && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(path, timeout_ms, FileWaitMode::DoesNotExist)) {
+    if (!path.empty() && !WaitForFileDeleted(path, timeout_ms)) {
         LERROR << "Timed out waiting for device path to unlink: " << path;
         return false;
     }
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_overlayfs.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_overlayfs.cpp
index ed8cce6e9..05ca5fc33 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_overlayfs.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_overlayfs.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 #include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
 #include <ext4_utils/ext4_utils.h>
 #include <fs_mgr.h>
+#include <fs_mgr/file_wait.h>
 #include <fs_mgr_dm_linear.h>
 #include <fs_mgr_overlayfs.h>
 #include <fstab/fstab.h>
@@ -867,7 +868,7 @@ bool fs_mgr_overlayfs_mount_all(Fstab* fstab) {
             scratch_can_be_mounted = false;
             auto scratch_device = fs_mgr_overlayfs_scratch_device();
             if (fs_mgr_overlayfs_scratch_can_be_mounted(scratch_device) &&
-                fs_mgr_wait_for_file(scratch_device, 10s)) {
+                WaitForFile(scratch_device, 10s)) {
                 const auto mount_type = fs_mgr_overlayfs_scratch_mount_type();
                 if (fs_mgr_overlayfs_mount_scratch(scratch_device, mount_type,
                                                    true /* readonly */)) {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
index c36fd3dde..3a33cf3f3 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_priv.h
@@ -88,12 +88,6 @@
 
 using namespace std::chrono_literals;
 
-enum class FileWaitMode { Exists, DoesNotExist };
-
-bool fs_mgr_wait_for_file(const std::string& filename,
-                          const std::chrono::milliseconds relative_timeout,
-                          FileWaitMode wait_mode = FileWaitMode::Exists);
-
 bool fs_mgr_set_blk_ro(const std::string& blockdev, bool readonly = true);
 bool fs_mgr_update_for_slotselect(android::fs_mgr::Fstab* fstab);
 bool fs_mgr_is_device_unlocked();
diff --git a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
index 1deb1ac55..be8077b8c 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/fs_mgr_verity.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
 #include <crypto_utils/android_pubkey.h>
 #include <cutils/properties.h>
+#include <fs_mgr/file_wait.h>
 #include <libdm/dm.h>
 #include <logwrap/logwrap.h>
 #include <openssl/obj_mac.h>
@@ -529,7 +530,7 @@ loaded:
     }
 
     // make sure we've set everything up properly
-    if (wait_for_verity_dev && !fs_mgr_wait_for_file(entry->blk_device, 1s)) {
+    if (wait_for_verity_dev && !WaitForFile(entry->blk_device, 1s)) {
         goto out;
     }