diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad677172..6db7f5a9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ You can pass the following options via CLI arguments. You can also use `--config
 | Prints pretty logs                                                                                                                      | `-P`          | `--pretty-logs`    | `FASTIFY_PRETTY_LOGS`    |
 | Watch process.cwd() directory for changes, recursively; when that happens, the process will auto reload                                 | `-w`          | `--watch`          | `FASTIFY_WATCH`          |
 | Ignore changes to the specified files or directories when watch is enabled. (e.g. `--ignore-watch='node_modules .git logs/error.log'` ) |               | `--ignore-watch`   | `FASTIFY_IGNORE_WATCH`   |
+| Watch changes only into the specified files or directories when watch is enabled. (e.g. `--follow-watch='plugins/'` )                   |               | `--follow-watch`   | `FASTIFY_FOLLOW_WATCH`   |
 | Prints events triggered by watch listener (useful to debug unexpected reload when using `--watch` )                                     |     `-V`          | `--verbose-watch`  | `FASTIFY_VERBOSE_WATCH`   |
 | Use custom options                                                                                                                      | `-o`          | `--options`        | `FASTIFY_OPTIONS`        |
 | Set the prefix                                                                                                                          | `-x`          | `--prefix`         | `FASTIFY_PREFIX`         |
diff --git a/args.js b/args.js
index 3fa05366..95163696 100644
--- a/args.js
+++ b/args.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
       'populate--': true
     },
     number: ['port', 'inspect-port', 'body-limit', 'plugin-timeout', 'close-grace-delay', 'trust-proxy-hop'],
-    string: ['log-level', 'address', 'socket', 'prefix', 'ignore-watch', 'logging-module', 'debug-host', 'lang', 'require', 'import', 'config', 'method', 'trust-proxy-ips'],
+    string: ['log-level', 'address', 'socket', 'prefix', 'ignore-watch', 'logging-module', 'debug-host', 'lang', 'require', 'import', 'config', 'method', 'trust-proxy-ips', 'follow-watch'],
     boolean: ['pretty-logs', 'options', 'watch', 'verbose-watch', 'debug', 'standardlint', 'common-prefix', 'include-hooks', 'trust-proxy-enabled'],
     envPrefix: 'FASTIFY_',
     alias: {
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
   const additionalArgs = commandLineArguments['--'] || []
   const { _, ...pluginOptions } = argv(additionalArgs)
   const ignoreWatchArg = commandLineArguments.ignoreWatch || configFileOptions?.ignoreWatch || ''
-
+  const followWatchArg = commandLineArguments.followWatch || configFileOptions?.followWatch || ''
   let ignoreWatch = `${DEFAULT_IGNORE} ${ignoreWatchArg}`.trim()
   if (ignoreWatchArg.includes('.ts$')) {
     ignoreWatch = ignoreWatch.replace('dist', '')
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
     method: parsedArgs.method,
     commonPrefix: parsedArgs.commonPrefix,
     includeHooks: parsedArgs.includeHooks,
+    followWatch: followWatchArg,
     trustProxy
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/watch/index.js b/lib/watch/index.js
index 7b9589b6..ffe4a115 100644
--- a/lib/watch/index.js
+++ b/lib/watch/index.js
@@ -10,11 +10,10 @@ const EventEmitter = require('node:events')
 const chokidar = require('chokidar')
 const forkPath = path.join(__dirname, './fork.js')
 
-const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch, verboseWatch) {
+const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch, verboseWatch, followWatch) {
   const emitter = new EventEmitter()
   let allStop = false
   let childs = []
-
   const stop = (watcher = null, err = null) => {
     childs.forEach(function (child) {
       child.kill()
@@ -76,9 +75,10 @@ const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch, verboseWatch) {
 
   childs.push(run('start'))
   const ignoredArr = ignoreWatch.split(' ').map((item) => item.trim()).filter((item) => item.length)
-  const ignoredPattern = arrayToRegExp(ignoredArr)
 
-  const watcher = chokidar.watch(process.cwd(), { ignored: ignoredPattern })
+  const ignoredPattern = arrayToRegExp(ignoredArr)
+  const watchDir = followWatch || process.cwd()
+  const watcher = chokidar.watch(watchDir, { ignored: ignoredPattern })
   watcher.on('ready', function () {
     watcher.on('all', function (event, filepath) {
       if (verboseWatch) {
diff --git a/start.js b/start.js
index 23af6ddb..2506d61b 100755
--- a/start.js
+++ b/start.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ async function start (args) {
   loadModules(opts)
 
   if (opts.watch) {
-    return watch(args, opts.ignoreWatch, opts.verboseWatch)
+    return watch(args, opts.ignoreWatch, opts.verboseWatch, opts.followWatch)
   }
 
   return runFastify(args)
diff --git a/test/args.test.js b/test/args.test.js
index 616291b5..9b3c1997 100644
--- a/test/args.test.js
+++ b/test/args.test.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ test('should parse args correctly', t => {
     '--pretty-logs', 'true',
     '--watch', 'true',
     '--ignore-watch', 'ignoreme.js',
+    '--follow-watch', 'watchme.js',
     '--verbose-watch', 'true',
     '--options', 'true',
     '--prefix', 'FASTIFY_',
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ test('should parse args correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output ignoreme.js',
+    followWatch: 'watchme.js',
     verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
@@ -75,6 +77,7 @@ test('should parse args with = assignment correctly', t => {
     '--pretty-logs=true',
     '--watch=true',
     '--ignore-watch=ignoreme.js',
+    '--follow-watch=watchme.js',
     '--verbose-watch=true',
     '--options=true',
     '--prefix=FASTIFY_',
@@ -97,6 +100,7 @@ test('should parse args with = assignment correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output ignoreme.js',
+    followWatch: 'watchme.js',
     verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
@@ -133,6 +137,7 @@ test('should parse env vars correctly', t => {
   process.env.FASTIFY_PRETTY_LOGS = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_WATCH = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_IGNORE_WATCH = 'ignoreme.js'
+  process.env.FASTIFY_FOLLOW_WATCH = 'plugin/'
   process.env.FASTIFY_VERBOSE_WATCH = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_OPTIONS = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_PREFIX = 'FASTIFY_'
@@ -155,6 +160,7 @@ test('should parse env vars correctly', t => {
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_PRETTY_LOGS
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_WATCH
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_IGNORE_WATCH
+    delete process.env.FASTIFY_FOLLOW_WATCH
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_VERBOSE_WATCH
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_OPTIONS
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_PREFIX
@@ -176,6 +182,7 @@ test('should parse env vars correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output ignoreme.js',
+    followWatch: 'plugin/',
     verboseWatch: true,
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
     bodyLimit: 5242880,
@@ -238,6 +245,7 @@ test('should parse custom plugin options', t => {
     '--pretty-logs', 'true',
     '--watch', 'true',
     '--ignore-watch', 'ignoreme.js',
+    '--follow-watch', 'watchme.js',
     '--verbose-watch', 'true',
     '--options', 'true',
     '--prefix', 'FASTIFY_',
@@ -266,6 +274,7 @@ test('should parse custom plugin options', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output ignoreme.js',
+    followWatch: 'watchme.js',
     verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
@@ -319,6 +328,7 @@ test('should parse config file correctly and prefer config values over default o
     debugPort: 4000,
     debugHost: '1.1.1.1',
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output',
+    followWatch: '',
     verboseWatch: false,
     logLevel: 'fatal',
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
@@ -363,6 +373,7 @@ test('should prefer command line args over config file options', t => {
     debugPort: 9320,
     debugHost: '1.1.1.1',
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output',
+    followWatch: '',
     verboseWatch: false,
     logLevel: 'fatal',
     address: 'fastify.dev:9999',
@@ -409,6 +420,7 @@ test('should favor trust proxy enabled over trust proxy ips and trust proxy hop'
     debugPort: 1111,
     debugHost: '1.1.1.1',
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output',
+    followWatch: '',
     verboseWatch: false,
     logLevel: 'fatal',
     address: undefined,
@@ -454,6 +466,7 @@ test('should favor trust proxy ips over trust proxy hop', t => {
     debugPort: 1111,
     debugHost: '1.1.1.1',
     ignoreWatch: 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output',
+    followWatch: '',
     verboseWatch: false,
     logLevel: 'fatal',
     address: undefined,