diff --git a/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb b/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
index ea49ad6..5e8d50b 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
@@ -43,25 +43,34 @@ def watch(options, site = nil)
     private
 
     def build_listener(site, options)
+      ignore_regexps, ignore_paths = listen_ignore_paths(options)
+
       Listen.to(
         options["source"],
-        :ignore        => listen_ignore_paths(options),
+        :ignore        => ignore_regexps,
         :force_polling => options["force_polling"],
-        &listen_handler(site)
+        &listen_handler(site, ignore_paths)
       )
     end
 
-    def listen_handler(site)
+    def listen_handler(site, ignore_paths)
       proc do |modified, added, removed|
-        t = Time.now
+        modified = strip_ignore_paths(modified, ignore_paths)
+        added    = strip_ignore_paths(added, ignore_paths)
+        removed  = strip_ignore_paths(removed, ignore_paths)
+
         c = modified + added + removed
-        n = c.length
 
-        Jekyll.logger.info "Regenerating:",
-                           "#{n} file(s) changed at #{t.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")}"
+        unless c.empty?
+          t = Time.now
+          n = c.length
+
+          Jekyll.logger.info "Regenerating:",
+                             "#{n} file(s) changed at #{t.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")}"
 
-        c.each { |path| Jekyll.logger.info "", path["#{site.source}/".length..-1] }
-        process(site, t)
+          c.each { |path| Jekyll.logger.info "", path["#{site.source}/".length..-1] }
+          process(site, t)
+        end
       end
     end
 
@@ -74,6 +83,10 @@ def normalize_encoding(obj, desired_encoding)
       end
     end
 
+    # paths that user specified to be excluded in their _config.yml file.
+    # could be nil, a single string or an array of strings.
+    #
+    # Returns an array of paths joined to the src directory.
     def custom_excludes(options)
       Array(options["exclude"]).map { |e| Jekyll.sanitized_path(options["source"], e) }
     end
@@ -89,34 +102,54 @@ def to_exclude(options)
         config_files(options),
         options["destination"],
         custom_excludes(options),
-      ].flatten
+      ].flat_map { |e| normalize_encoding(e, options["source"].encoding) }
     end
 
     # Paths to ignore for the watch option
     #
     # options - A Hash of options passed to the command
     #
-    # Returns a list of relative paths from source that should be ignored
+    # Returns a tuple where the first entry is a list of regular
+    #         expressions relating to exact (existing) files to
+    #         ignore and the second is a list of fnmatch patterns
+    #         to ignore.
     def listen_ignore_paths(options)
       source = Pathname.new(options["source"]).expand_path
-      paths  = to_exclude(options)
+      exclusion_fnmatch_paths = []
 
-      paths.map do |p|
-        absolute_path = Pathname.new(normalize_encoding(p, options["source"].encoding)).expand_path
-        next unless absolute_path.exist?
+      exclusion_regexps = to_exclude(options).map do |path|
+        # convert to absolute path from the source directory
+        absolute_path = Pathname.new(path).expand_path
+        relative_path = absolute_path.relative_path_from(source).to_s
 
-        begin
-          relative_path = absolute_path.relative_path_from(source).to_s
+        if absolute_path.exist?
           relative_path = File.join(relative_path, "") if absolute_path.directory?
-          unless relative_path.start_with?("../")
-            path_to_ignore = %r!^#{Regexp.escape(relative_path)}!
-            Jekyll.logger.debug "Watcher:", "Ignoring #{path_to_ignore}"
-            path_to_ignore
+
+          begin
+            next if relative_path.start_with?("../")
+
+            %r!^#{Regexp.escape(relative_path)}!.tap do |pattern|
+              Jekyll.logger.debug "Watcher:", "Ignoring #{pattern}"
+            end
+          rescue ArgumentError
+            # Could not find a relative path
           end
-        rescue ArgumentError
-          # Could not find a relative path
+        else
+          # maybe wildcard, or just a file that doesn't exist.
+          nil.tap { exclusion_fnmatch_paths << relative_path }
         end
       end.compact + [%r!^\.jekyll\-metadata!]
+
+      [exclusion_regexps, exclusion_fnmatch_paths]
+    end
+
+    # remove any paths from PATHS which're matched to by some fnmatch
+    # pattern in IGNORE_PATTERNS
+    def strip_ignore_paths(paths, ignore_patterns)
+      paths.select do |path|
+        # true when every patten in ignore_patterns does not match to path.
+        ignore_patterns.find { |pattern| File.fnmatch?(pattern, path) }.nil?
+      end
     end
 
     def sleep_forever
diff --git a/spec/watcher_spec.rb b/spec/watcher_spec.rb
index 98af237..76b6a57 100644
--- a/spec/watcher_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/watcher_spec.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# coding: utf-8
 require "spec_helper"
 
 describe(Jekyll::Watcher) do
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@
   end
 
   context "#listen_ignore_paths" do
-    let(:ignored) { subject.send(:listen_ignore_paths, options) }
+    let(:ignored) { subject.send(:listen_ignore_paths, options)[0] }
     let(:metadata_path) { Jekyll.sanitized_path(options["source"], ".jekyll-metadata") }
 
     before(:each) { FileUtils.touch(metadata_path) }