diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/builder.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/builder.ts
index e3c9b3ab6f..441cc3885f 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/builder.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/builder.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,18 @@ function createWatcher () {
     ignored: [isIgnored, /[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/],
   })
 
+  const restartPaths = new Set<string>()
+  const srcDir = nuxt.options.srcDir.replace(/\/?$/, '/')
+  for (const pattern of nuxt.options.watch) {
+    if (typeof pattern !== 'string') { continue }
+    const path = resolve(nuxt.options.srcDir, pattern)
+    if (!path.startsWith(srcDir)) {
+      restartPaths.add(path)
+    }
+  }
+
+  watcher.add([...restartPaths])
+
   // TODO: consider moving to emit absolute path in 3.8 or 4.0
   watcher.on('all', (event, path) => {
     if (event === 'all' || event === 'ready' || event === 'error' || event === 'raw') {
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
index 6c11c3384b..29ec359988 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ async function initNuxt (nuxt: Nuxt) {
   await nuxt.callHook('modules:before')
   const modulesToInstall = new Map<string | NuxtModule, Record<string, any>>()
 
-  const watchedPaths = new Set<string>()
+  const modulePaths = new Set<string>()
   const specifiedModules = new Set<string>()
 
   for (const _mod of nuxt.options.modules) {
@@ -430,13 +430,15 @@ async function initNuxt (nuxt: Nuxt) {
       `${modulesDir}/*/index{${nuxt.options.extensions.join(',')}}`,
     ])
     for (const mod of layerModules) {
-      watchedPaths.add(mod)
+      modulePaths.add(mod)
       if (specifiedModules.has(mod)) { continue }
       specifiedModules.add(mod)
       modulesToInstall.set(mod, {})
     }
   }
 
+  nuxt.options.watch.push(...modulePaths)
+
   // Register user and then ad-hoc modules
   for (const key of ['modules', '_modules'] as const) {
     for (const item of nuxt.options[key as 'modules']) {
@@ -659,7 +661,7 @@ export default defineNuxtPlugin({
   nuxt.hooks.hook('builder:watch', (event, relativePath) => {
     const path = resolve(nuxt.options.srcDir, relativePath)
     // Local module patterns
-    if (watchedPaths.has(path)) {
+    if (modulePaths.has(path)) {
       return nuxt.callHook('restart', { hard: true })
     }