diff --git a/src/core/qgsdataitem.cpp b/src/core/qgsdataitem.cpp
index ebc5f545dec6..9dbba3599e6e 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsdataitem.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsdataitem.cpp
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ QVector<QgsDataItem *> QgsDirectoryItem::createChildren()
     }
 
   }
-
+  mLastScan = QDateTime::currentDateTime();
   return children;
 }
 
@@ -794,6 +794,11 @@ void QgsDirectoryItem::setState( State state )
 
 void QgsDirectoryItem::directoryChanged()
 {
+  // If the last scan was less than 10 seconds ago, skip this
+  if ( mLastScan.msecsTo( QDateTime::currentDateTime() ) < 10000 )
+  {
+    return;
+  }
   if ( state() == Populating )
   {
     // schedule to refresh later, because refresh() simply returns if Populating
diff --git a/src/core/qgsdataitem.h b/src/core/qgsdataitem.h
index 969740e71812..94cc92df1bb6 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsdataitem.h
+++ b/src/core/qgsdataitem.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <QString>
 #include <QTreeWidget>
 #include <QVector>
+#include <QDateTime>
 
 #include "qgsmaplayer.h"
 #include "qgscoordinatereferencesystem.h"
@@ -487,6 +488,7 @@ class CORE_EXPORT QgsDirectoryItem : public QgsDataCollectionItem
   private:
     QFileSystemWatcher *mFileSystemWatcher = nullptr;
     bool mRefreshLater;
+    QDateTime mLastScan;
 };
 
 /** \ingroup core