diff --git a/src/main/catalog-sources/kubeconfig-sync.ts b/src/main/catalog-sources/kubeconfig-sync.ts
index 1e7c0398ad..239bb29999 100644
--- a/src/main/catalog-sources/kubeconfig-sync.ts
+++ b/src/main/catalog-sources/kubeconfig-sync.ts
@@ -216,10 +216,8 @@ function diffChangedConfig(filePath: string, source: RootSource, port: number):
 function watchFileChanges(filePath: string, port: number): [IComputedValue<CatalogEntity[]>, Disposer] {
   const watcher = watch(filePath, {
     followSymlinks: true,
-    depth: 0, // shallow
+    depth: 1, // shallow
     disableGlobbing: true,
-    alwaysStat: false,
-    ignoreInitial: false,
   });
   const rootSource = new ExtendedObservableMap<string, ObservableMap<string, RootSourceValue>>(observable.map);
   const derivedSource = computed(() => Array.from(iter.flatMap(rootSource.values(), from => iter.map(from.values(), child => child[1]))));
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+preferences/kubeconfig-syncs.tsx b/src/renderer/components/+preferences/kubeconfig-syncs.tsx
index 6fbfd58e0b..d79b9ec730 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+preferences/kubeconfig-syncs.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+preferences/kubeconfig-syncs.tsx
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ export class KubeconfigSyncs extends React.Component {
             onClick={() => void this.openFileDialog()}
           />
           <div className="hint">
-            Sync an individual file or folder shallowly.
+            Sync an individual file or folders (and subfolders to a depth of 1).
           </div>
           {this.renderEntries()}
         </section>