diff --git a/ldclient/impl/integrations/files/filedata.py b/ldclient/impl/integrations/files/filedata.py
index 0f1ef576..29d67492 100644
--- a/ldclient/impl/integrations/files/filedata.py
+++ b/ldclient/impl/integrations/files/filedata.py
@@ -61,7 +61,15 @@
 
 # The watchdog event types that can change a file's content or presence. Opening or reading a
 # file also produces events, and a reload reads the files, so those must not count as changes.
-_CHANGE_EVENT_TYPES = frozenset(["created", "modified", "moved", "deleted", "closed"])
+# watchdog 7 reports a change of a file's metadata, such as a new modification time from a
+# touch, as "attrib", where earlier versions reported "modified". A read does not produce it.
+_CHANGE_EVENT_TYPES = frozenset(["created", "modified", "moved", "deleted", "closed", "attrib"])
+
+# How long, in seconds, the watchdog observer waits for further notifications before it delivers
+# the ones it has. watchdog 7 on Windows keeps waiting while notifications arrive, so a change is
+# reported this late, and not at all while another file in the same directory changes more often
+# than this. The watchdog default is one second.
+_OBSERVER_TIMEOUT = 0.1
 
 
 class DuplicateKeysHandling(str, Enum):
@@ -984,7 +992,7 @@ def on_any_event(self, event):
                 watcher._handle_event(event)
 
         self._handler = _Handler()
-        self._observer = watchdog.observers.Observer()
+        self._observer = watchdog.observers.Observer(timeout=_OBSERVER_TIMEOUT)
 
         # Guards the state below. It is never held while the observer is called, because the
         # observer holds its own lock while it dispatches an event to the handler.
@@ -1068,6 +1076,11 @@ def _schedule(self, directory: str) -> Optional[Any]:
         except Exception as e:
             self._log_unwatchable(directory, 'Cannot watch directory "%s" for changes yet: %s' % (directory, e))
             return None
+        # watchdog 6 on Windows starts a watch's reader thread and returns before the thread has
+        # asked for its first notification, and a change made before then is not reported.
+        # Yielding lets the thread make that request before the setup goes on, for example to
+        # the initial load.
+        time.sleep(0)
         with self._lock:
             self._unwatchable_messages.pop(directory, None)
         return watch
diff --git a/ldclient/testing/integrations/test_filedata.py b/ldclient/testing/integrations/test_filedata.py
index 2b2cbd23..0852c025 100644
--- a/ldclient/testing/integrations/test_filedata.py
+++ b/ldclient/testing/integrations/test_filedata.py
@@ -2456,6 +2456,60 @@ def test_watcher_detects_file_deletion(tmp_path, make_watcher):
     w.require_change()
 
 
+@watchdog_required
+def test_watcher_reports_a_change_within_a_fraction_of_a_second(tmp_path, make_watcher):
+    # watchdog 7 on Windows holds each notification for the observer's timeout, one second by
+    # default, before it delivers it. The watcher sets a shorter timeout.
+    path = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), 'data.json')
+    write_file(path, 'a')
+    w = make_watcher([path])
+    w.require_no_change(0.15)
+    write_file(path, 'bb')
+    take(w.changes, timeout=0.5)
+
+
+@watchdog_required
+def test_watcher_reports_a_change_while_another_file_in_the_directory_keeps_changing(tmp_path, make_watcher):
+    # watchdog 7 on Windows delivers nothing while notifications for the directory keep arriving
+    # within the observer's timeout, so a file appended to five times a second, such as a log,
+    # would hold back the change to the watched file for as long as it is written.
+    path = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), 'data.json')
+    other = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), 'app.log')
+    write_file(path, 'a')
+    write_file(other, '')
+    w = make_watcher([path])
+    stop = threading.Event()
+
+    def append_to_other():
+        while not stop.is_set():
+            with open(other, 'a') as f:
+                f.write('line\n')
+            stop.wait(0.2)
+
+    writer = threading.Thread(target=append_to_other, daemon=True)
+    writer.start()
+    try:
+        w.require_no_change(0.5)
+        write_file(path, 'bb')
+        take(w.changes, timeout=2.0)
+    finally:
+        stop.set()
+        writer.join()
+
+
+@watchdog_required
+def test_watcher_reports_a_new_modification_time(tmp_path, make_watcher):
+    # A touch changes only the modification time. watchdog 7 reports it as an "attrib" event,
+    # where earlier versions report a modification.
+    path = os.path.join(str(tmp_path), 'data.json')
+    write_file(path, 'a')
+    w = make_watcher([path])
+    w.require_no_change(0.15)
+    info = os.stat(path)
+    os.utime(path, ns=(info.st_atime_ns, info.st_mtime_ns + 1_000_000_000))
+    w.require_change()
+
+
 def make_symlink(target: str, link: str, directory: bool = False) -> None:
     # Windows needs to know whether a link leads to a directory when the link is created.
     try: