diff --git a/runtime/lua/vim/_watch.lua b/runtime/lua/vim/_watch.lua
index 8bfa61cf1e..3f7438dcac 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/vim/_watch.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/vim/_watch.lua
@@ -69,10 +69,12 @@ function M.watch(path, opts, callback)
   local uvflags = opts and opts.uvflags or {}
   local handle = assert(uv.new_fs_event())
 
+  local watching_dir = (uv.fs_stat(path) or {}).type == 'directory'
+
   local _, start_err, start_errname = handle:start(path, uvflags, function(err, filename, events)
     assert(not err, err)
     local fullpath = path
-    if filename then
+    if filename and watching_dir then
       fullpath = vim.fs.normalize(vim.fs.joinpath(fullpath, filename))
     end