diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index fca96937d6..ce31c89448 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -686,7 +686,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "figment",
  "git-version",
  "git2",
- "ignore",
  "insta",
  "itertools 0.14.0",
  "log",
@@ -733,19 +732,6 @@ version = "0.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d2fabcfbdc87f4758337ca535fb41a6d701b65693ce38287d856d1674551ec9b"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "globset"
-version = "0.4.15"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "15f1ce686646e7f1e19bf7d5533fe443a45dbfb990e00629110797578b42fb19"
-dependencies = [
- "aho-corasick",
- "bstr",
- "log",
- "regex-automata",
- "regex-syntax",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "half"
 version = "2.4.1"
@@ -956,22 +942,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "icu_properties",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "ignore"
-version = "0.4.23"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "6d89fd380afde86567dfba715db065673989d6253f42b88179abd3eae47bda4b"
-dependencies = [
- "crossbeam-deque",
- "globset",
- "log",
- "memchr",
- "regex-automata",
- "same-file",
- "walkdir",
- "winapi-util",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "indexmap"
 version = "2.6.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 1abeb44bf1..760900e848 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ etcetera = "0.10.0"
 figment = { version = "0.10.19", features = ["toml"] }
 git-version = "0.3.9"
 git2 = { version = "0.20.1", default-features = false }
-ignore = "0.4.23"
 itertools = "0.14.0"
 log = "0.4.27"
 nom = "7.1.3"
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 83f3d6058b..044864a596 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ pub enum Error {
     Term(io::Error),
     GitDirUtf8(string::FromUtf8Error),
     Config(figment::Error),
-    FileWatcherGitignore(ignore::Error),
     FileWatcher(notify::Error),
     ReadRebaseStatusFile(io::Error),
     ReadBranchName(io::Error),
@@ -64,9 +63,6 @@ impl Display for Error {
             Error::Term(e) => f.write_fmt(format_args!("Terminal error: {}", e)),
             Error::GitDirUtf8(_e) => f.write_str("Git directory not valid UTF-8"),
             Error::Config(e) => f.write_fmt(format_args!("Configuration error: {}", e)),
-            Error::FileWatcherGitignore(e) => {
-                f.write_fmt(format_args!("File watcher gitignore error: {}", e))
-            }
             Error::FileWatcher(e) => f.write_fmt(format_args!("File watcher error: {}", e)),
             Error::ReadRebaseStatusFile(e) => {
                 f.write_fmt(format_args!("Couldn't read rebase status file: {}", e))
diff --git a/src/file_watcher.rs b/src/file_watcher.rs
index 27dd9c3a14..191e2af4c4 100644
--- a/src/file_watcher.rs
+++ b/src/file_watcher.rs
@@ -1,30 +1,24 @@
-use crate::{error::Error, Res};
-use ignore::gitignore::GitignoreBuilder;
-use notify::{Event, EventKind, RecursiveMode, Watcher};
+use crate::{error::Error, open_repo, Res};
+use notify::{Event, EventKind, RecommendedWatcher, RecursiveMode, Watcher};
 use std::{
     path::Path,
     sync::{
         atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
         Arc,
     },
-    thread,
 };
 
 pub struct FileWatcher {
+    _watcher: RecommendedWatcher,
     pending_updates: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 }
 
 impl FileWatcher {
-    pub fn new(path: &Path) -> Res<Self> {
+    pub fn new(repo_dir: &Path) -> Res<Self> {
         let pending_updates = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
         let pending_updates_w = pending_updates.clone();
 
-        let gitignore = GitignoreBuilder::new(path)
-            .add_line(None, super::LOG_FILE_NAME)
-            .map_err(Error::FileWatcherGitignore)?
-            .build()
-            .unwrap();
-
+        let repo = open_repo(repo_dir)?;
         let mut watcher = notify::recommended_watcher(move |res: Result<Event, notify::Error>| {
             if let Ok(event) = res {
                 if !is_changed(&event) {
@@ -32,8 +26,8 @@ impl FileWatcher {
                 }
 
                 for path in event.paths {
-                    if !gitignore.matched(&path, path.is_dir()).is_ignore() {
-                        log::info!("File changed: {:?}", path);
+                    if !repo.status_should_ignore(&path).unwrap_or(false) {
+                        log::info!("File changed: {:?} ({:?})", path, event.kind);
                         pending_updates_w.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
                         break;
                     }
@@ -42,17 +36,19 @@ impl FileWatcher {
         })
         .map_err(Error::FileWatcher)?;
 
-        let path_buf = path.to_owned();
-        thread::spawn(move || {
-            if let Err(err) = watcher
-                .watch(path_buf.as_ref(), RecursiveMode::Recursive)
-                .map_err(Error::FileWatcher)
-            {
-                log::error!("Couldn't start file-watcher due to: {}", err);
-            }
-        });
+        let path_buf = repo_dir.to_owned();
+        watcher
+            .watch(&path_buf, RecursiveMode::Recursive)
+            .map_err(Error::FileWatcher)?;
+        log::info!(
+            "File watcher started (kind: {:?})",
+            RecommendedWatcher::kind()
+        );
 
-        Ok(Self { pending_updates })
+        Ok(Self {
+            _watcher: watcher,
+            pending_updates,
+        })
     }
 
     pub fn pending_updates(&self) -> bool {