diff --git a/src/iwatch.c b/src/iwatch.c
index 48bedea1..ee241a66 100644
--- a/src/iwatch.c
+++ b/src/iwatch.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ int iwatch_init(struct iwatch *iw)
 
 	iw->fd = inotify_init1(IN_NONBLOCK | IN_CLOEXEC);
 	if (iw->fd < 0) {
-		_pe("inotify_init()");
+		_pe("Failed creating inotify descriptor");
 		return -1;
 	}
 	initialized = 1;
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ int iwatch_add(struct iwatch *iw, char *file, uint32_t mask)
 
 	wd = inotify_add_watch(iw->fd, path, IWATCH_MASK | mask);
 	if (wd < 0) {
-		_pe("inotify_add_watch(%s)", path);
+		_pe("Failed adding watcher for %s", path);
 		free(path);
 		return -1;
 	}
diff --git a/src/iwatch.h b/src/iwatch.h
index b59c3fb9..adff92a3 100644
--- a/src/iwatch.h
+++ b/src/iwatch.h
@@ -29,9 +29,16 @@
 #include <lite/queue.h>
 #include <sys/inotify.h>
 
+#ifndef IN_MASK_CREATE
+#define IN_MASK_CREATE 0x10000000	/* since Linux 4.18 */
+#endif
 
-/* Monitors changes to both directories and files by default */
-#define IWATCH_MASK (IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE | IN_MODIFY | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MOVE)
+/*
+ * Monitors changes to both directories and files by default, but only
+ * add watcher once (IN_MASK_CREATE) to avoid clobbering any already
+ * monitored paths.
+ */
+#define IWATCH_MASK (IN_CREATE | IN_DELETE | IN_MODIFY | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MOVE | IN_MASK_CREATE)
 
 struct iwatch_path {
 	TAILQ_ENTRY(iwatch_path) link;