diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 772eebf16..2ce87e021 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@
         "express-session": "1.17.2",
         "form-data": "4.0.0",
         "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
-        "fs.notify": "0.0.4",
         "got": "11.8.3",
         "hash-sum": "2.0.0",
         "hpagent": "0.1.2",
@@ -65,6 +64,7 @@
         "multer": "1.4.4",
         "mustache": "4.2.0",
         "node-red-admin": "^3.0.0",
+        "node-watch": "0.7.3",
         "nopt": "5.0.0",
         "oauth2orize": "1.11.1",
         "on-headers": "1.0.2",
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/core/storage/23-watch.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/core/storage/23-watch.js
index 9b6c4bc62..4a1be0ec7 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/core/storage/23-watch.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/core/storage/23-watch.js
@@ -16,24 +16,9 @@
 
 module.exports = function(RED) {
     "use strict";
-    var Notify = require("fs.notify");
-    var fs = require("fs");
-    var path = require("path");
-
-    var getAllDirs = function (dir, filelist) {
-        filelist = filelist || [];
-        fs.readdirSync(dir).forEach(file => {
-            try {
-                if (fs.statSync(path.join(dir, file)).isDirectory() ) {
-                    filelist.push(path.join(dir, file));
-                    getAllDirs(path.join(dir, file), filelist);
-                }
-            } catch (error) {
-                //should we raise an error?
-            }
-        });
-        return filelist;
-    }
+    const watch = require('node-watch')
+    const fs = require("fs")
+    const path = require("path")
 
     function WatchNode(n) {
         RED.nodes.createNode(this,n);
@@ -44,25 +29,24 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
             this.files[f] = this.files[f].trim();
         }
         this.p = (this.files.length === 1) ? this.files[0] : JSON.stringify(this.files);
-        var node = this;
+        const node = this;
 
-        if (node.recursive) {
-            for (var fi in node.files) {
-                if (node.files.hasOwnProperty(fi)) {
-                    node.files = node.files.concat(getAllDirs( node.files[fi]));
-                }
-            }
-        }
+        const watcher = watch(this.files, { recursive: true });
 
-        var notifications = new Notify(node.files);
-        notifications.on('change', function (file, event, fpath) {
-            var stat;
+        watcher.on('change', function (event, fpath) {
+            const file = path.basename(fpath)
+            let stat;
             try {
-                if (fs.statSync(fpath).isDirectory()) { fpath = path.join(fpath,file); }
                 stat = fs.statSync(fpath);
             } catch(e) { }
-            var type = "none";
-            var msg = { payload:fpath, topic:node.p, file:file, filename:fpath };
+            let type = "none";
+            const msg = {
+                payload:fpath,
+                topic:node.p,
+                file:file,
+                filename:fpath,
+                event: event
+            };
             if (stat) {
                 if (stat.isFile()) { type = "file"; msg.size = stat.size; }
                 else if (stat.isBlockDevice()) { type = "blockdevice"; }
@@ -82,14 +66,14 @@ module.exports = function(RED) {
             node.send(msg);
         });
 
-        notifications.on('error', function (error, fpath) {
-            var msg = { payload:fpath };
+        watcher.on('error', function (error) {
+            const msg = { payload: "" };
             node.error(error,msg);
         });
 
         this.close = function() {
-            notifications.close();
+            watcher.close();
         }
     }
-    RED.nodes.registerType("watch",WatchNode);
+    RED.nodes.registerType("watch", WatchNode);
 }
diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/package.json b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/package.json
index 5751c15ce..8394d78df 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/package.json
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/nodes/package.json
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
         "denque": "2.0.1",
         "form-data": "4.0.0",
         "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
-        "fs.notify": "0.0.4",
         "got": "11.8.3",
         "hash-sum": "2.0.0",
         "hpagent": "0.1.2",
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@
         "mqtt": "4.3.7",
         "multer": "1.4.4",
         "mustache": "4.2.0",
+        "node-watch": "0.7.3",
         "on-headers": "1.0.2",
         "raw-body": "2.5.1",
         "tough-cookie": "4.0.0",