diff --git a/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/collections.js b/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/collections.js
index ec2cdacc2..5c9889e13 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/collections.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/collections.js
@@ -63,7 +63,10 @@ const openCollection = async (win, watcher, collectionPath, options = {}) => {
       const uid = generateUidBasedOnHash(collectionPath);
 
       if (!brunoConfig.ignore || brunoConfig.ignore.length === 0) {
-        // Forces default behavior for legacy collections
+        // 5 Feb 2024:
+        // bruno.json now supports an "ignore" field to specify which folders to ignore
+        // if the ignore field is not present, we default to ignoring node_modules and .git
+        // this is to maintain backwards compatibility with older collections
         brunoConfig.ignore = ['node_modules', '.git'];
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/watcher.js b/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/watcher.js
index 23a2c565c..441bba3b2 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/watcher.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-electron/src/app/watcher.js
@@ -414,7 +414,15 @@ class Watcher {
       const watcher = chokidar.watch(watchPath, {
         ignoreInitial: false,
         usePolling: watchPath.startsWith('\\\\') ? true : false,
-        ignored: (path) => ignores.some((s) => path.includes(s)),
+        ignored: (filepath) => {
+          const normalizedPath = filepath.replace(/\\/g, '/');
+          const relativePath = path.relative(watchPath, normalizedPath);
+
+          return ignores.some((ignorePattern) => {
+            const normalizedIgnorePattern = ignorePattern.replace(/\\/g, '/');
+            return relativePath === normalizedIgnorePattern || relativePath.startsWith(normalizedIgnorePattern);
+          });
+        },
         persistent: true,
         ignorePermissionErrors: true,
         awaitWriteFinish: {