diff --git a/packages/builder/src/builder.js b/packages/builder/src/builder.js
index 5bb2d57371..45b2af5531 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/builder.js
+++ b/packages/builder/src/builder.js
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ export default class Builder {
       patterns.push(r(src, this.options.dir.store))
     }
 
-    if (this._nuxtPages) {
+    if (this._nuxtPages && !this._defaultPage) {
       patterns.push(
         r(src, this.options.dir.pages),
         ...rGlob(this.options.dir.pages)
@@ -657,6 +657,10 @@ export default class Builder {
     if (this.ignore.ignoreFile) {
       nuxtRestartWatch.push(this.ignore.ignoreFile)
     }
+    // If default page displayed, watch for first page creation
+    if (this._nuxtPages && this._defaultPage) {
+      nuxtRestartWatch.push(path.join(this.options.srcDir, this.options.dir.pages))
+    }
     // If store not activated, watch for a file in the directory
     if (!this.options.store) {
       nuxtRestartWatch.push(path.join(this.options.srcDir, this.options.dir.store))
diff --git a/packages/builder/test/builder.watch.test.js b/packages/builder/test/builder.watch.test.js
index 7e2fbd2639..ad839c21df 100644
--- a/packages/builder/test/builder.watch.test.js
+++ b/packages/builder/test/builder.watch.test.js
@@ -87,6 +87,29 @@ describe('builder: builder watch', () => {
     expect(r).nthCalledWith(5, '/var/nuxt/src', '/var/nuxt/src/store')
   })
 
+  test('should NOT watch pages files on client if _defaultPage=true', () => {
+    const nuxt = createNuxt()
+    nuxt.options.srcDir = '/var/nuxt/src'
+    nuxt.options.dir = {
+      layouts: '/var/nuxt/src/layouts',
+      pages: '/var/nuxt/src/pages',
+      store: '/var/nuxt/src/store',
+      middleware: '/var/nuxt/src/middleware'
+    }
+    nuxt.options.build.watch = []
+    nuxt.options.watchers = {
+      chokidar: { test: true }
+    }
+
+    const builder = new Builder(nuxt, {})
+    builder._nuxtPages = true
+    builder._defaultPage = true
+    r.mockImplementation((dir, src) => src)
+
+    builder.watchClient()
+
+    expect(r).toBeCalledTimes(4)
+  })
   test('should watch pages files', () => {
     const nuxt = createNuxt()
     nuxt.options.srcDir = '/var/nuxt/src'