diff --git a/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js b/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
index 585beaedd..3538f2b13 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
+++ b/spec/text-editor-component-spec.js
@@ -3553,7 +3553,7 @@ describe('TextEditorComponent', function () {
 
   describe('mousewheel events', function () {
     beforeEach(function () {
-      atom.config.set('editor.scrollSensitivity', 100)
+      editor.setScrollSensitivity(100)
     })
 
     describe('updating scrollTop and scrollLeft', function () {
@@ -3586,7 +3586,7 @@ describe('TextEditorComponent', function () {
       })
 
       it('updates the scrollLeft or scrollTop according to the scroll sensitivity', async function () {
-        atom.config.set('editor.scrollSensitivity', 50)
+        editor.setScrollSensitivity(50)
         componentNode.dispatchEvent(new WheelEvent('mousewheel', {
           wheelDeltaX: -5,
           wheelDeltaY: -10
@@ -3603,26 +3603,6 @@ describe('TextEditorComponent', function () {
         expect(verticalScrollbarNode.scrollTop).toBe(5)
         expect(horizontalScrollbarNode.scrollLeft).toBe(7)
       })
-
-      it('uses the previous scrollSensitivity when the value is not an int', async function () {
-        atom.config.set('editor.scrollSensitivity', 'nope')
-        componentNode.dispatchEvent(new WheelEvent('mousewheel', {
-          wheelDeltaX: 0,
-          wheelDeltaY: -10
-        }))
-        await nextAnimationFramePromise()
-        expect(verticalScrollbarNode.scrollTop).toBe(10)
-      })
-
-      it('parses negative scrollSensitivity values at the minimum', async function () {
-        atom.config.set('editor.scrollSensitivity', -50)
-        componentNode.dispatchEvent(new WheelEvent('mousewheel', {
-          wheelDeltaX: 0,
-          wheelDeltaY: -10
-        }))
-        await nextAnimationFramePromise()
-        expect(verticalScrollbarNode.scrollTop).toBe(1)
-      })
     })
 
     describe('when the mousewheel event\'s target is a line', function () {
diff --git a/src/text-editor-component.coffee b/src/text-editor-component.coffee
index d069e4c53..5a6f1bde0 100644
--- a/src/text-editor-component.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor-component.coffee
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ LineTopIndex = require 'line-top-index'
 
 module.exports =
 class TextEditorComponent
-  scrollSensitivity: 0.4
   cursorBlinkPeriod: 800
   cursorBlinkResumeDelay: 100
   tileSize: 12
@@ -47,8 +46,6 @@ class TextEditorComponent
     @tileSize = tileSize if tileSize?
     @disposables = new CompositeDisposable
 
-    @setScrollSensitivity(@config.get('editor.scrollSensitivity'))
-
     lineTopIndex = new LineTopIndex({
       defaultLineHeight: @editor.getLineHeightInPixels()
     })
@@ -340,7 +337,6 @@ class TextEditorComponent
     @disposables.add(@scopedConfigDisposables)
 
     scope = @editor.getRootScopeDescriptor()
-    @scopedConfigDisposables.add @config.observe 'editor.scrollSensitivity', {scope}, @setScrollSensitivity
 
   focused: ->
     if @mounted
@@ -408,7 +404,7 @@ class TextEditorComponent
     if Math.abs(wheelDeltaX) > Math.abs(wheelDeltaY)
       # Scrolling horizontally
       previousScrollLeft = @presenter.getScrollLeft()
-      updatedScrollLeft = previousScrollLeft - Math.round(wheelDeltaX * @scrollSensitivity)
+      updatedScrollLeft = previousScrollLeft - Math.round(wheelDeltaX * @editor.getScrollSensitivity() / 100)
 
       event.preventDefault() if @presenter.canScrollLeftTo(updatedScrollLeft)
       @presenter.setScrollLeft(updatedScrollLeft)
@@ -416,7 +412,7 @@ class TextEditorComponent
       # Scrolling vertically
       @presenter.setMouseWheelScreenRow(@screenRowForNode(event.target))
       previousScrollTop = @presenter.getScrollTop()
-      updatedScrollTop = previousScrollTop - Math.round(wheelDeltaY * @scrollSensitivity)
+      updatedScrollTop = previousScrollTop - Math.round(wheelDeltaY * @editor.getScrollSensitivity() / 100)
 
       event.preventDefault() if @presenter.canScrollTopTo(updatedScrollTop)
       @presenter.setScrollTop(updatedScrollTop)
@@ -926,10 +922,6 @@ class TextEditorComponent
     @linesYardstick.invalidateCache()
     @presenter.measurementsChanged()
 
-  setScrollSensitivity: (scrollSensitivity) =>
-    if scrollSensitivity = parseInt(scrollSensitivity)
-      @scrollSensitivity = Math.abs(scrollSensitivity) / 100
-
   screenPositionForMouseEvent: (event, linesClientRect) ->
     pixelPosition = @pixelPositionForMouseEvent(event, linesClientRect)
     @screenPositionForPixelPosition(pixelPosition)
diff --git a/src/text-editor.coffee b/src/text-editor.coffee
index dcd988a81..6ba313758 100644
--- a/src/text-editor.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor.coffee
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ class TextEditor extends Model
   atomicSoftTabs: true
   invisibles: null
   showLineNumbers: true
+  scrollSensitivity: 40
 
   Object.defineProperty @prototype, "element",
     get: -> @getElement()
@@ -3359,6 +3360,10 @@ class TextEditor extends Model
 
   getScrollPastEnd: -> @scrollPastEnd
 
+  setScrollSensitivity: (@scrollSensitivity) ->
+
+  getScrollSensitivity: -> @scrollSensitivity
+
   setShowLineNumbers: (showLineNumbers) ->
     if showLineNumbers isnt @showLineNumbers
       @showLineNumbers = showLineNumbers