diff --git a/src/Roux/Server.hs b/src/Roux/Server.hs
index 55ddb30..56fc54b 100644
--- a/src/Roux/Server.hs
+++ b/src/Roux/Server.hs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import Data.Text (Text)
 import Data.Time.Clock (UTCTime, diffUTCTime, getCurrentTime)
 import qualified Network.HTTP.Types as HTTP
 import qualified Network.Wai as Wai
-import System.Directory (doesFileExist)
+import System.Directory (doesFileExist, makeAbsolute)
 import System.FSNotify (
     Event (..),
     EventIsDirectory (..),
@@ -56,10 +56,12 @@ app recipeDir = do
     -- Build initial map keyed by lowercased filename (without .cook extension)
     let recipeMap = Map.fromList [(map toLower (stripCookExt (Idx.riFilename r)), r) | r <- recipes]
     state <- newIORef recipeMap
+    -- Resolve to absolute path so makeRelative works with fsnotify events
+    absDir <- makeAbsolute recipeDir
     -- Start the filesystem watcher
     _ <-
         forkIO $
-            watchRecipes recipeDir state `catch` \e ->
+            watchRecipes absDir state `catch` \e ->
                 putStrLn $ "[roux] watcher thread crashed: " <> show (e :: SomeException)
     pure (handleRequest state)
   where