diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7fea2137a0..4af046ec84 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -763,26 +763,6 @@ version = "0.1.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8b23360e99b8717f20aaa4598f5a6541efbe30630039fbc7706cf954a87947ae"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "kqueue"
-version = "1.0.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "512705bfcaeb3d46379771adc69deab978355fc68fdf960f9fb11abc8d678a96"
-dependencies = [
- "kqueue-sys",
- "libc",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "kqueue-sys"
-version = "1.0.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "9803ae382091c10a5c7297ffb9fde284dbc9662b249f86eacef605d97ae92d99"
-dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
- "libc",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "la-arena"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -963,16 +943,15 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "notify"
-version = "5.0.0-pre.11"
+version = "5.0.0-pre.10"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "c614e7ed2b1cf82ec99aeffd8cf6225ef5021b9951148eb161393c394855032c"
+checksum = "51f18203a26893ca1d3526cf58084025d5639f91c44f8b70ab3b724f60e819a0"
 dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
  "crossbeam-channel",
  "filetime",
  "fsevent-sys",
  "inotify",
- "kqueue",
  "libc",
  "mio",
  "walkdir",
diff --git a/crates/vfs-notify/Cargo.toml b/crates/vfs-notify/Cargo.toml
index 0233c6da28..42200278da 100644
--- a/crates/vfs-notify/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/vfs-notify/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ rustc-hash = "1.0"
 jod-thread = "0.1.0"
 walkdir = "2.3.1"
 crossbeam-channel = "0.5.0"
-notify = "=5.0.0-pre.11"
+notify = "=5.0.0-pre.10"    # check that it builds on NetBSD before upgrading
 
 vfs = { path = "../vfs", version = "0.0.0" }
 paths = { path = "../paths", version = "0.0.0" }
diff --git a/crates/vfs-notify/src/lib.rs b/crates/vfs-notify/src/lib.rs
index 960d988a4c..a28cb7a330 100644
--- a/crates/vfs-notify/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/vfs-notify/src/lib.rs
@@ -83,9 +83,10 @@ impl NotifyActor {
                         self.watcher = None;
                         if !config.watch.is_empty() {
                             let (watcher_sender, watcher_receiver) = unbounded();
-                            let watcher = log_notify_error(RecommendedWatcher::new(move |event| {
-                                watcher_sender.send(event).unwrap()
-                            }));
+                            let watcher =
+                                log_notify_error(RecommendedWatcher::new_immediate(move |event| {
+                                    watcher_sender.send(event).unwrap()
+                                }));
                             self.watcher = watcher.map(|it| (it, watcher_receiver));
                         }
 
@@ -214,7 +215,7 @@ impl NotifyActor {
 
     fn watch(&mut self, path: AbsPathBuf) {
         if let Some((watcher, _)) = &mut self.watcher {
-            log_notify_error(watcher.watch(path.as_ref(), RecursiveMode::NonRecursive));
+            log_notify_error(watcher.watch(&path, RecursiveMode::NonRecursive));
         }
     }
     fn send(&mut self, msg: loader::Message) {