diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a18971cd..20cb1195 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -180,6 +180,8 @@ By default, `fastify-cli` loads environment variables from `.env` in your curren
 
 The default value for `--plugin-timeout` is 10 seconds.
 By default,`--ignore-watch` flag is set to ignore `node_modules build dist .git bower_components logs .swp .nyc_output` files.
+The `.git` entry matches a complete path segment, so Git metadata remains ignored
+while projects in directories such as `fastify.git/main` can reload normally.
 
 #### Containerization
 
diff --git a/lib/watch/utils.js b/lib/watch/utils.js
index 6f49c3c6..5afa4088 100644
--- a/lib/watch/utils.js
+++ b/lib/watch/utils.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const path = require('node:path')
 
 const arrayToRegExp = (arr) => {
   const reg = arr.map((file) => {
+    if (file === '.git') { return '(?:^|[/\\\\])\\.git(?:[/\\\\]|$)' }
     if (/^\./.test(file)) { return `\\${file}` }
     return file
   }).join('|')
diff --git a/test/watch.test.js b/test/watch.test.js
index 135be9ec..e33d1756 100644
--- a/test/watch.test.js
+++ b/test/watch.test.js
@@ -41,8 +41,76 @@ test('followWatch parameter should set watchDir correctly', async (t) => {
 test('should equal expect RegExp', t => {
   t.plan(1)
 
-  const expectRegExp = /(node_modules|build|dist|\.git|bower_components|logs)/
+  const expectRegExp = /(node_modules|build|dist|(?:^|[/\\])\.git(?:[/\\]|$)|bower_components|logs)/
   const regExp = arrayToRegExp(['node_modules', 'build', 'dist', '.git', 'bower_components', 'logs'])
 
   t.assert.deepStrictEqual(regExp, expectRegExp)
 })
+
+test('.git ignore should only match complete path segments', t => {
+  const regExp = arrayToRegExp(['.git'])
+
+  for (const separator of ['/', '\\']) {
+    for (const filepath of [
+      '.git',
+      '.git/',
+      '.git/HEAD',
+      'app/.git',
+      '/work/app/.git/objects/pack',
+      'C:/work/app/.git/HEAD',
+      '//server/share/app/.git/HEAD',
+      '/work/fastify.git/main/.git'
+    ]) {
+      const filename = filepath.replaceAll('/', separator)
+      t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename), true, filename)
+    }
+
+    for (const filepath of [
+      'fastify.git',
+      'fastify.git/main',
+      '/work/fastify.git/main/app.js',
+      'C:/work/ordinary.git/app.js',
+      '//server/share/ordinary.git/app.js',
+      '/work/.github/app.js',
+      '/work/app/.gitignore',
+      '/work/app/.gitconfig',
+      '/work/app/.git-backup/app.js'
+    ]) {
+      const filename = filepath.replaceAll('/', separator)
+      t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename), false, filename)
+    }
+  }
+})
+
+test('default ignores should allow compiled apps in .git-suffixed directories', t => {
+  const { ignoreWatch } = require('../args')(['--ignore-watch=.ts$'])
+  const regExp = arrayToRegExp(ignoreWatch.split(' ').filter(Boolean))
+
+  for (const separator of ['/', '\\']) {
+    const filename = filepath => filepath.replaceAll('/', separator)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/fastify.git/main')), false)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/fastify.git/main/dist/app.js')), false)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/ordinary.git/dist/app.js')), false)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/fastify.git/main/.git')), true)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/ordinary.git/.git/HEAD')), true)
+    t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename('/work/fastify.git/main/app.ts')), true)
+
+    for (const entry of ['node_modules', 'build', 'bower_components', 'logs', '.swp', '.nyc_output']) {
+      t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test(filename(`/work/app/${entry}/file`)), true)
+    }
+  }
+})
+
+test('custom ignore expressions should retain their matching behavior', t => {
+  const expressions = ['\\.git', '.ts$', 'logs/error.log', '^generated[/\\\\]']
+  const expected = /(\.git|\.ts$|logs\/error.log|^generated[/\\])/
+  const regExp = arrayToRegExp(expressions)
+
+  t.assert.deepStrictEqual(regExp, expected)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('/work/fastify.git/main/app.js'), true)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('/work/app/app.ts'), true)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('/work/app/app.tsx'), false)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('/work/app/logs/error.log'), true)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('generated/app.js'), true)
+  t.assert.strictEqual(regExp.test('generated\\app.js'), true)
+})