diff --git a/Help/policy/CMP0015.rst b/Help/policy/CMP0015.rst
index 2e185069c9..6fbe833601 100644
--- a/Help/policy/CMP0015.rst
+++ b/Help/policy/CMP0015.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 CMP0015
 -------
 
+.. |REMOVED_IN_CMAKE_VERSION| replace:: 4.0
+.. include:: REMOVED_PROLOGUE.txt
+
 :command:`link_directories` treats paths relative to the source dir.
 
 In CMake 2.8.0 and lower the :command:`link_directories` command passed
@@ -13,7 +16,5 @@ this policy is to use relative paths verbatim in the linker command.  The
 paths by appending the relative path to ``CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR``.
 
 .. |INTRODUCED_IN_CMAKE_VERSION| replace:: 2.8.1
-.. |WARNS_OR_DOES_NOT_WARN| replace:: warns
-.. include:: STANDARD_ADVICE.txt
-
-.. include:: DEPRECATED.txt
+.. |WARNED_OR_DID_NOT_WARN| replace:: warned
+.. include:: REMOVED_EPILOGUE.txt
diff --git a/Source/cmLinkDirectoriesCommand.cxx b/Source/cmLinkDirectoriesCommand.cxx
index 395f7ceb5d..d45d495b5b 100644
--- a/Source/cmLinkDirectoriesCommand.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmLinkDirectoriesCommand.cxx
@@ -2,14 +2,10 @@
    file Copyright.txt or https://cmake.org/licensing for details.  */
 #include "cmLinkDirectoriesCommand.h"
 
-#include <sstream>
-
 #include "cmExecutionStatus.h"
 #include "cmGeneratorExpression.h"
 #include "cmList.h"
 #include "cmMakefile.h"
-#include "cmMessageType.h"
-#include "cmPolicies.h"
 #include "cmStringAlgorithms.h"
 #include "cmSystemTools.h"
 
@@ -52,29 +48,7 @@ static void AddLinkDir(cmMakefile& mf, std::string const& dir,
   cmSystemTools::ConvertToUnixSlashes(unixPath);
   if (!cmSystemTools::FileIsFullPath(unixPath) &&
       !cmGeneratorExpression::StartsWithGeneratorExpression(unixPath)) {
-    bool convertToAbsolute = false;
-    std::ostringstream e;
-    /* clang-format off */
-    e << "This command specifies the relative path\n"
-      << "  " << unixPath << "\n"
-      << "as a link directory.\n";
-    /* clang-format on */
-    switch (mf.GetPolicyStatus(cmPolicies::CMP0015)) {
-      case cmPolicies::WARN:
-        e << cmPolicies::GetPolicyWarning(cmPolicies::CMP0015);
-        mf.IssueMessage(MessageType::AUTHOR_WARNING, e.str());
-        CM_FALLTHROUGH;
-      case cmPolicies::OLD:
-        // OLD behavior does not convert
-        break;
-      case cmPolicies::NEW:
-        // NEW behavior converts
-        convertToAbsolute = true;
-        break;
-    }
-    if (convertToAbsolute) {
-      unixPath = cmStrCat(mf.GetCurrentSourceDirectory(), '/', unixPath);
-    }
+    unixPath = cmStrCat(mf.GetCurrentSourceDirectory(), '/', unixPath);
   }
   directories.push_back(unixPath);
 }
diff --git a/Source/cmPolicies.h b/Source/cmPolicies.h
index 13e09c3a48..841cc8270f 100644
--- a/Source/cmPolicies.h
+++ b/Source/cmPolicies.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ class cmMakefile;
          8, 0, NEW)                                                           \
   SELECT(POLICY, CMP0015,                                                     \
          "link_directories() treats paths relative to the source dir.", 2, 8, \
-         1, WARN)                                                             \
+         1, NEW)                                                              \
   SELECT(POLICY, CMP0016,                                                     \
          "target_link_libraries() reports error if its only argument "        \
          "is not a target.",                                                  \
diff --git a/Tests/LinkDirectory/External/CMakeLists.txt b/Tests/LinkDirectory/External/CMakeLists.txt
index b85e351a04..d2d37228f7 100644
--- a/Tests/LinkDirectory/External/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Tests/LinkDirectory/External/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -20,13 +20,7 @@ add_executable(myexe3 myexe.c)
 set_property(TARGET myexe3 PROPERTY OUTPUT_NAME LinkDirectory3)
 target_link_libraries(myexe3 PRIVATE mylibs)
 
-
-# Test CMP0015 OLD behavior: -L../lib
-cmake_policy(SET CMP0015 OLD)
 link_directories(../lib${cfg_dir})
-
-# Test CMP0015 NEW behavior: -L${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/lib
-cmake_policy(SET CMP0015 NEW)
 link_directories(lib${cfg_dir})
 
 add_executable(myexe myexe.c)