diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 2fa319435..6d11086e7 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Deprecated
   deprecated
 * ``sphinx.locale.l_()`` is deprecated
 * #2157: helper function ``warn()`` for HTML themes is deprecated
+* ``env._nitpick_ignore`` is deprecated
 * ``app.override_domain()`` is deprecated
 
 For more details, see `deprecation APIs list
diff --git a/doc/extdev/index.rst b/doc/extdev/index.rst
index e1ae13be1..a0b070e48 100644
--- a/doc/extdev/index.rst
+++ b/doc/extdev/index.rst
@@ -118,6 +118,11 @@ The following is a list of deprecated interface.
      - 3.0
      - :meth:`~sphinx.application.Sphinx.add_domain()`
 
+   * - ``BuildEnvironment._nitpick_ignore``
+     - 1.8
+     - 3.0
+     - :confval:`nitpick_ignore`
+
    * - ``warn()`` (template helper function)
      - 1.8
      - 3.0
diff --git a/sphinx/apidoc.py b/sphinx/apidoc.py
index f6616e497..dffa4a9ef 100644
--- a/sphinx/apidoc.py
+++ b/sphinx/apidoc.py
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@
 """
 
 import warnings
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from sphinx.deprecation import RemovedInSphinx20Warning
 from sphinx.ext.apidoc import main as _main
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any  # NOQA
     from sphinx.application import Sphinx  # NOQA
 
diff --git a/sphinx/environment/__init__.py b/sphinx/environment/__init__.py
index 461fc1227..34c99a1f5 100644
--- a/sphinx/environment/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/environment/__init__.py
@@ -532,9 +532,6 @@ class BuildEnvironment(object):
         self.config = config
         self._update_settings(config)
 
-        # this cache also needs to be updated every time
-        self._nitpick_ignore = set(self.config.nitpick_ignore)
-
         # return tuple of (changed, reason)
         return bool(changed_reason), changed_reason
 
@@ -864,3 +861,11 @@ class BuildEnvironment(object):
         warnings.warn('env._read_parallel() is deprecated. Please use builder.read() instead.',
                       RemovedInSphinx30Warning)
         return self.app.builder._read_parallel(docnames, nproc)
+
+    @property
+    def _nitpick_ignore(self):
+        # type: () -> List[unicode]
+        warnings.warn('env._nitpick_ignore is deprecated. '
+                      'Please use config.nitpick_ignore instead.',
+                      RemovedInSphinx30Warning)
+        return self.config.nitpick_ignore
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/extlinks.py b/sphinx/ext/extlinks.py
index 53b051c45..29bfe928f 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/extlinks.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/extlinks.py
@@ -24,15 +24,14 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for details.
 """
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
-
 from docutils import nodes, utils
 from six import iteritems
 
 import sphinx
 from sphinx.util.nodes import split_explicit_title
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any, Dict, List, Tuple  # NOQA
     from docutils.parsers.rst.states import Inliner  # NOQA
     from sphinx.application import Sphinx  # NOQA
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/githubpages.py b/sphinx/ext/githubpages.py
index f97c810f8..bd7061fb7 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/githubpages.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/githubpages.py
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@
 """
 
 import os
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 import sphinx
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any, Dict  # NOQA
     from sphinx.application import Sphinx  # NOQA
     from sphinx.environment import BuildEnvironment  # NOQA
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/jsmath.py b/sphinx/ext/jsmath.py
index e523b54c8..b377a6479 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/jsmath.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/jsmath.py
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for details.
 """
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
-
 from docutils import nodes
 
 import sphinx
@@ -20,8 +18,8 @@ from sphinx.ext.mathbase import get_node_equation_number
 from sphinx.ext.mathbase import setup_math as mathbase_setup
 from sphinx.locale import _
 
-
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any, Dict  # NOQA
     from sphinx.application import Sphinx  # NOQA
 
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/mathjax.py b/sphinx/ext/mathjax.py
index 9f8013b2b..e3f7afebe 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/mathjax.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/mathjax.py
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for details.
 """
 
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
-
 from docutils import nodes
 
 import sphinx
@@ -21,7 +19,8 @@ from sphinx.ext.mathbase import get_node_equation_number
 from sphinx.ext.mathbase import setup_math as mathbase_setup
 from sphinx.locale import _
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any, Dict  # NOQA
     from sphinx.application import Sphinx  # NOQA
 
diff --git a/sphinx/locale/__init__.py b/sphinx/locale/__init__.py
index b0bf0ead1..b17da28e9 100644
--- a/sphinx/locale/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/locale/__init__.py
@@ -253,7 +253,13 @@ def init_console(locale_dir, catalog):
 
     .. versionadded:: 1.8
     """
-    language, _ = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_MESSAGES)  # encoding is ignored
+    try:
+        # encoding is ignored
+        language, _ = locale.getlocale(locale.LC_MESSAGES)
+    except AttributeError:
+        # LC_MESSAGES is not always defined. Fallback to the default language
+        # in case it is not.
+        language = None
     return init([locale_dir], language, catalog, 'console')
 
 
diff --git a/sphinx/quickstart.py b/sphinx/quickstart.py
index dbdfb47c1..8cad0640b 100644
--- a/sphinx/quickstart.py
+++ b/sphinx/quickstart.py
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@
 """
 
 import warnings
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from sphinx.cmd.quickstart import main as _main
 from sphinx.deprecation import RemovedInSphinx20Warning
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any  # NOQA
 
 
diff --git a/sphinx/testing/path.py b/sphinx/testing/path.py
index 5f59ad30b..209046246 100644
--- a/sphinx/testing/path.py
+++ b/sphinx/testing/path.py
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import sys
 from io import open
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from six import PY2, text_type
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
+if False:
+    # For type annotation
     from typing import Any, Callable, IO, List  # NOQA
 
 
diff --git a/sphinx/transforms/post_transforms/__init__.py b/sphinx/transforms/post_transforms/__init__.py
index 7c71e8585..6e53fec1d 100644
--- a/sphinx/transforms/post_transforms/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/transforms/post_transforms/__init__.py
@@ -156,13 +156,13 @@ class ReferencesResolver(SphinxTransform):
         warn = node.get('refwarn')
         if self.config.nitpicky:
             warn = True
-            if self.env._nitpick_ignore:
+            if self.config.nitpick_ignore:
                 dtype = domain and '%s:%s' % (domain.name, typ) or typ
-                if (dtype, target) in self.env._nitpick_ignore:
+                if (dtype, target) in self.config.nitpick_ignore:
                     warn = False
                 # for "std" types also try without domain name
                 if (not domain or domain.name == 'std') and \
-                   (typ, target) in self.env._nitpick_ignore:
+                   (typ, target) in self.config.nitpick_ignore:
                     warn = False
         if not warn:
             return