diff --git a/.changes/fix-watcher.md b/.changes/fix-watcher.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f63cfd56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changes/fix-watcher.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"cli.rs": patch
+"cli.js": patch
+---
+
+Fixes dev watcher incorrectly exiting the CLI when sequential file updates are detected.
diff --git a/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs b/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
index 958a39ece..1765dd302 100644
--- a/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
+++ b/tooling/cli/src/interface/rust.rs
@@ -358,7 +358,14 @@ impl Rust {
 
         app_child_.lock().unwrap().replace(app_child);
       } else {
-        on_exit(status, reason);
+        on_exit(
+          status,
+          if manually_killed_app_.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
+            ExitReason::TriggeredKill
+          } else {
+            reason
+          },
+        );
       }
     })?;