diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fcf84461..32041620 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ You can pass the following options via cli arguments, every options has the corr
 | 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`   |
+| Prints events triggered by watch listener (useful to debug unexpected reload when using `--watch` )                                     |               | `--verbose-watch`  | `FASTIFY_VERBOSE_WATCH`   |
 | Use custom options                                                                                                                      | `-o`          | `--options`        | `FASTIFY_OPTIONS`        |
 | Set the prefix                                                                                                                          | `-x`          | `--prefix`         | `FASTIFY_PREFIX`         |
 | Set the plugin timeout                                                                                                                  | `-T`          | `--plugin-timeout` | `FASTIFY_PLUGIN_TIMEOUT` |
diff --git a/args.js b/args.js
index 4e7f7e2b..97d8f772 100644
--- a/args.js
+++ b/args.js
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
       'populate--': true
     },
     number: ['port', 'inspect-port', 'body-limit', 'plugin-timeout'],
-    boolean: ['pretty-logs', 'options', 'watch', 'debug'],
     string: ['log-level', 'address', 'socket', 'prefix', 'ignore-watch', 'logging-module', 'debug-host', 'lang', 'require'],
+    boolean: ['pretty-logs', 'options', 'watch', 'verbose-watch', 'debug'],
     envPrefix: 'FASTIFY_',
     alias: {
       port: ['p'],
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
       'log-level': 'fatal',
       'pretty-logs': false,
       watch: false,
+      verboseWatch: false,
       debug: false,
       debugPort: 9320,
       'ignore-watch': 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output',
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ module.exports = function parseArgs (args) {
     debugPort: parsedArgs.debugPort,
     debugHost: parsedArgs.debugHost,
     ignoreWatch: parsedArgs.ignoreWatch,
+    verboseWatch: parsedArgs.verboseWatch,
     logLevel: parsedArgs.logLevel,
     address: parsedArgs.address,
     socket: parsedArgs.socket,
diff --git a/lib/watch/index.js b/lib/watch/index.js
index f414c16e..dd80eac0 100644
--- a/lib/watch/index.js
+++ b/lib/watch/index.js
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@
 const path = require('path')
 const cp = require('child_process')
 const chalk = require('chalk')
-const { arrayToRegExp } = require('./utils')
+const { arrayToRegExp, logWatchVerbose } = require('./utils')
 const { GRACEFUL_SHUT } = require('./constants.js')
 
 const EventEmitter = require('events')
 const chokidar = require('chokidar')
 const forkPath = path.join(__dirname, './fork.js')
 
-const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch) {
+const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch, verboseWatch) {
   const emitter = new EventEmitter()
   let allStop = false
   let childs = []
@@ -84,7 +84,10 @@ const watch = function (args, ignoreWatch) {
 
   const watcher = chokidar.watch(process.cwd(), { ignored: ignoredPattern })
   watcher.on('ready', function () {
-    watcher.on('all', function () {
+    watcher.on('all', function (event, filepath) {
+      if (verboseWatch) {
+        logWatchVerbose(event, filepath)
+      }
       try {
         const child = childs.shift()
         child.send(GRACEFUL_SHUT)
diff --git a/lib/watch/utils.js b/lib/watch/utils.js
index 5ee00c3c..894a2626 100644
--- a/lib/watch/utils.js
+++ b/lib/watch/utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 'use strict'
 
+const chalk = require('chalk')
+const path = require('path')
+
 const arrayToRegExp = (arr) => {
   const reg = arr.map((file) => {
     if (/^\./.test(file)) { return `\\${file}` }
@@ -8,6 +11,16 @@ const arrayToRegExp = (arr) => {
   return new RegExp(`(${reg})`)
 }
 
+const logWatchVerbose = (event, filepath) => {
+  const relativeFilepath = path.relative(process.cwd(), filepath)
+  console.log(
+    chalk.gray(
+      `[fastify-cli] watch - '${event}' occurred on '${relativeFilepath}'`
+    )
+  )
+}
+
 module.exports = {
-  arrayToRegExp
+  arrayToRegExp,
+  logWatchVerbose
 }
diff --git a/start.js b/start.js
index 9a5b4c35..b9b50766 100755
--- a/start.js
+++ b/start.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ async function start (args) {
   loadModules(opts)
 
   if (opts.watch) {
-    return watch(args, opts.ignoreWatch)
+    return watch(args, opts.ignoreWatch, opts.verboseWatch)
   }
 
   return runFastify(args)
diff --git a/test/args.test.js b/test/args.test.js
index 1a34181d..47705ecc 100644
--- a/test/args.test.js
+++ b/test/args.test.js
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ test('should parse args correctly', t => {
     '--pretty-logs', 'true',
     '--watch', 'true',
     '--ignore-watch', 'ignoreme.js',
+    '--verbose-watch', 'true',
     '--options', 'true',
     '--prefix', 'FASTIFY_',
     '--plugin-timeout', '500',
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ test('should parse args correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'ignoreme.js',
+    verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.io:9999',
     socket: 'fastify.io.socket:9999',
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ test('should parse args with = assignment correctly', t => {
     '--pretty-logs=true',
     '--watch=true',
     '--ignore-watch=ignoreme.js',
+    '--verbose-watch=true',
     '--options=true',
     '--prefix=FASTIFY_',
     '--plugin-timeout=500',
@@ -81,6 +84,7 @@ test('should parse args with = assignment correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'ignoreme.js',
+    verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.io:9999',
     socket: 'fastify.io.socket:9999',
@@ -109,6 +113,7 @@ 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_VERBOSE_WATCH = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_OPTIONS = 'true'
   process.env.FASTIFY_PREFIX = 'FASTIFY_'
   process.env.FASTIFY_BODY_LIMIT = '5242880'
@@ -127,6 +132,7 @@ 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_VERBOSE_WATCH
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_OPTIONS
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_PREFIX
     delete process.env.FASTIFY_BODY_LIMIT
@@ -145,6 +151,7 @@ test('should parse env vars correctly', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'ignoreme.js',
+    verboseWatch: true,
     address: 'fastify.io:9999',
     bodyLimit: 5242880,
     logLevel: 'info',
@@ -163,7 +170,7 @@ test('should parse env vars correctly', t => {
 })
 
 test('should respect default values', t => {
-  t.plan(11)
+  t.plan(12)
 
   const argv = [
     'app.js'
@@ -176,6 +183,7 @@ test('should respect default values', t => {
   t.is(parsedArgs.prettyLogs, false)
   t.is(parsedArgs.watch, false)
   t.is(parsedArgs.ignoreWatch, 'node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output')
+  t.is(parsedArgs.verboseWatch, false)
   t.is(parsedArgs.logLevel, 'fatal')
   t.is(parsedArgs.pluginTimeout, 10000)
   t.is(parsedArgs.debug, false)
@@ -196,6 +204,7 @@ test('should parse custom plugin options', t => {
     '--pretty-logs', 'true',
     '--watch', 'true',
     '--ignore-watch', 'ignoreme.js',
+    '--verbose-watch', 'true',
     '--options', 'true',
     '--prefix', 'FASTIFY_',
     '--plugin-timeout', '500',
@@ -222,6 +231,7 @@ test('should parse custom plugin options', t => {
     options: true,
     watch: true,
     ignoreWatch: 'ignoreme.js',
+    verboseWatch: true,
     port: 7777,
     address: 'fastify.io:9999',
     socket: 'fastify.io.socket:9999',
diff --git a/test/start.test.js b/test/start.test.js
index 937ff23f..9dbe650a 100644
--- a/test/start.test.js
+++ b/test/start.test.js
@@ -558,6 +558,49 @@ test('should start the server with watch options that the child process restart
   t.pass('should receive restart event')
 })
 
+test('should start the server with watch and verbose-watch options that the child process restart when directory changed with console message about changes ', { skip: onGithubAction }, async (t) => {
+  t.plan(5)
+
+  const spy = sinon.spy()
+  const watch = proxyquire('../lib/watch', {
+    './utils': {
+      logWatchVerbose: spy
+    }
+  })
+
+  const start = proxyquire('../start', {
+    './lib/watch': watch
+  })
+
+  const tmpjs = path.resolve(baseFilename + '.js')
+
+  await writeFile(tmpjs, 'hello world')
+  const argv = ['-p', '4042', '-w', '--verbose-watch', './examples/plugin.js']
+  const fastifyEmitter = await start.start(argv)
+
+  t.tearDown(() => {
+    if (fs.existsSync(tmpjs)) {
+      fs.unlinkSync(tmpjs)
+    }
+    fastifyEmitter.emit('close')
+  })
+
+  await once(fastifyEmitter, 'start')
+  t.pass('should receive start event')
+
+  await once(fastifyEmitter, 'ready')
+  t.pass('should receive ready event')
+
+  await writeFile(tmpjs, 'hello fastify', { flag: 'a+' }) // chokidar watch can't catch change event in CI, but local test is all ok. you can remove annotation in local environment.
+  t.pass('change tmpjs')
+
+  // this might happen more than once but does not matter in this context
+  await once(fastifyEmitter, 'restart')
+  t.pass('should receive restart event')
+
+  t.ok(spy.calledOnce, 'should print a console message on file update')
+})
+
 test('should reload the env on restart when watching', async (t) => {
   const testdir = t.testdir({
     '.env': 'GREETING=world',