diff --git a/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb b/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
index c2a0ba8..ae5e384 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/watcher.rb
@@ -62,13 +62,21 @@ def config_files(options)
     end
 
     def to_exclude(options)
+      # prepending a slash to the destination directory will ensure that
+      # other files starting with _site aren't also ignored by Listen
+      destination = "#{options['destination']}/"
+
       [
         config_files(options),
-        options['destination'],
+        destination,
         custom_excludes(options)
       ].flatten
     end
 
+    def has_trailing_slash(path)
+      path[-1] == '/'
+    end
+
     # Paths to ignore for the watch option
     #
     # options - A Hash of options passed to the command
@@ -79,12 +87,16 @@ def listen_ignore_paths(options)
       paths        = to_exclude(options)
 
       paths.map do |p|
+        is_dir = has_trailing_slash(p)
         absolute_path = Pathname.new(p).expand_path
+
         if absolute_path.exist?
           begin
             relative_path = absolute_path.relative_path_from(source).to_s
-            unless relative_path.start_with?('../')
-              path_to_ignore = Regexp.new(Regexp.escape(relative_path))
+            recovered_path = is_dir ? "#{relative_path}/" : relative_path
+
+            unless recovered_path.start_with?('../')
+              path_to_ignore = Regexp.new(Regexp.escape(recovered_path))
               Jekyll.logger.debug "Watcher:", "Ignoring #{path_to_ignore}"
               path_to_ignore
             end
diff --git a/spec/watcher_spec.rb b/spec/watcher_spec.rb
index 0b8c9b4..b20c19b 100644
--- a/spec/watcher_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/watcher_spec.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
   let(:options) { base_opts }
   let(:site)    { instance_double(Jekyll::Site) }
-  let(:default_ignored) { [/_config\.yml/, /_site/, /\.jekyll\-metadata/] }
+  let(:default_ignored) { [/_config\.yml/, /#{Regexp.escape('_site/')}/, /\.jekyll\-metadata/] }
   subject { described_class }
   before(:each) do
     FileUtils.mkdir(options['destination']) if options['destination']
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
     end
 
     context "with a custom destination" do
-      let(:default_ignored) { [/_config\.yml/, /_dest/, /\.jekyll\-metadata/] }
+      let(:default_ignored) { [/_config\.yml/, /#{Regexp.escape('_dest/')}/, /\.jekyll\-metadata/] }
 
       context "when source is absolute" do
         context "when destination is absolute" do