diff --git a/lib/react/rails/railtie.rb b/lib/react/rails/railtie.rb
index a9dac65db..97a7e9665 100644
--- a/lib/react/rails/railtie.rb
+++ b/lib/react/rails/railtie.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class Railtie < ::Rails::Railtie
       config.react.view_helper_implementation = nil # Defaults to ComponentMount
 
       # Watch .jsx files for changes in dev, so we can reload the JS VMs with the new JS code.
-      initializer "react_rails.add_watchable_files", group: :all do |app|
+      initializer "react_rails.add_watchable_files", after: :load_config_initializers, group: :all do |app|
         # Watch files ending in `server_renderer_extensions` in each of `server_renderer_directories`
         reload_paths = config.react.server_renderer_directories.reduce({}) do |memo, dir|
           app_dir = File.join(app.root, dir)
diff --git a/test/dummy/app/pants/yfronts.js b/test/dummy/app/pants/yfronts.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..873f5af34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/dummy/app/pants/yfronts.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+// used for testing file watcher configuration
diff --git a/test/dummy/config/initializers/react.rb b/test/dummy/config/initializers/react.rb
index 7381edbd8..20751d9c4 100644
--- a/test/dummy/config/initializers/react.rb
+++ b/test/dummy/config/initializers/react.rb
@@ -5,5 +5,10 @@ class CustomComponentMount < React::Rails::ComponentMount
 Dummy::Application.configure do
   config.react.addons = true
   config.react.view_helper_implementation = CustomComponentMount
+  # Add "app/pants" to the array we can test that file watchers are setup after
+  # rails initializers are loaded
+  config.react.server_renderer_directories = ["/app/assets/javascripts/",
+                                              "app/javascript",
+                                              "app/pants"]
 end
 
diff --git a/test/react/rails/railtie_test.rb b/test/react/rails/railtie_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f943dd140
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/react/rails/railtie_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+require "test_helper"
+
+class RailtieTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
+  test "reloaders are configured after initializers are loaded" do
+    @test_file = File.expand_path("../../dummy/app/pants/yfronts.js", File.dirname(__FILE__))
+    FileUtils.touch @test_file
+    results = Dummy::Application.reloaders.map(&:updated?)
+    assert_includes(results, true)
+  end
+end