diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9b5dfcb2..f2a55f26 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 
 ## Fixed
 
+- Fix beholder watch functionality that would cause a NullPointerException earlier.
+
 ## Changed
 
 # 1.91.1392 (2024-05-23 / c2d7e1f)
diff --git a/doc/07_watch_mode.md b/doc/07_watch_mode.md
index e715cc83..b27de744 100644
--- a/doc/07_watch_mode.md
+++ b/doc/07_watch_mode.md
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ interface, the provided links describes how they work in detail.
 
 ``` clojure
 #kaocha/v1
-{:kaocha.watch/ignore ["*.tmp"]}
+{:kaocha.watch/ignore ["**.tmp"]}
+; this will match all files ending in .tmp in the current directory and
+; any subdirectory 
 ```
 
 When running in watch mode you can press the Enter (Return) key to manually
diff --git a/src/kaocha/watch.clj b/src/kaocha/watch.clj
index 2da8ba71..82a31e49 100644
--- a/src/kaocha/watch.clj
+++ b/src/kaocha/watch.clj
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
             [lambdaisland.tools.namespace.track :as ctn-track]
             [slingshot.slingshot :refer [try+]]
             [nextjournal.beholder :as beholder])
-  (:import (java.nio.file FileSystems)
+  (:import (java.nio.file FileSystems Path)
            (java.util.concurrent ArrayBlockingQueue BlockingQueue)))
 
 (defn make-queue []
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
   for a description of the patterns, these are similar but not the same as
   typical shell glob patterns."
   [path patterns]
+  (assert (instance? Path path))
   (let [fs (FileSystems/getDefault)
         patterns (map #(.getPathMatcher fs (str "glob:" %)) patterns)]
     (some #(.matches % path) patterns)))
@@ -295,8 +296,9 @@ errors as test errors."
 (defmethod watch! :beholder [{:keys [q watch-paths]}]
   (apply beholder/watch
          (fn [{:keys [type path]}]
+           (assert (instance? Path path))
            (when (contains? #{:modify :create} type)
-             (qput q path)))
+             (qput q (.toFile path))))
          (map str watch-paths)))
 
 (defn run* [config finish? q]