diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 21ddc3c4..bdc90964 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1083,7 +1083,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "memofs"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.1.3"
 dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-channel",
  "fs-err",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 772560fe..96723065 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ uuid = { version = "0.8.1", features = ["v4", "serde"] }
 winreg = "0.6.2"
 
 [build-dependencies]
-memofs = { version = "0.1.0", path = "memofs" }
+memofs = { version = "0.1.3", path = "memofs" }
 
 anyhow = "1.0.27"
 bincode = "1.2.1"
diff --git a/memofs/CHANGELOG.md b/memofs/CHANGELOG.md
index cd4647f2..78dd22aa 100644
--- a/memofs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/memofs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # memofs Changelog
 
 ## Unreleased Changes
+* Added `set_watch_enabled` to `Vfs` and `VfsLock` to allow turning off file watching.
+
+## 0.1.2 (2020-03-29)
+* `VfsSnapshot` now implements Serde's `Serialize` and `Deserialize` traits.
 
 ## 0.1.1 (2020-03-18)
 * Improved error messages using the [fs-err](https://crates.io/crates/fs-err) crate.
diff --git a/memofs/Cargo.toml b/memofs/Cargo.toml
index 3484c765..12c67caa 100644
--- a/memofs/Cargo.toml
+++ b/memofs/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 name = "memofs"
 description = "Virtual filesystem with configurable backends."
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.1.3"
 authors = ["Lucien Greathouse <me@lpghatguy.com>"]
 edition = "2018"
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/memofs/src/lib.rs b/memofs/src/lib.rs
index a04bf71d..f6a17ef6 100644
--- a/memofs/src/lib.rs
+++ b/memofs/src/lib.rs
@@ -140,13 +140,18 @@ pub enum VfsEvent {
 /// the public interfaces to this type.
 struct VfsInner {
     backend: Box<dyn VfsBackend>,
+    watch_enabled: bool,
 }
 
 impl VfsInner {
     fn read<P: AsRef<Path>>(&mut self, path: P) -> io::Result<Arc<Vec<u8>>> {
         let path = path.as_ref();
         let contents = self.backend.read(path)?;
-        self.backend.watch(path)?;
+
+        if self.watch_enabled {
+            self.backend.watch(path)?;
+        }
+
         Ok(Arc::new(contents))
     }
 
@@ -159,7 +164,11 @@ impl VfsInner {
     fn read_dir<P: AsRef<Path>>(&mut self, path: P) -> io::Result<ReadDir> {
         let path = path.as_ref();
         let dir = self.backend.read_dir(path)?;
-        self.backend.watch(path)?;
+
+        if self.watch_enabled {
+            self.backend.watch(path)?;
+        }
+
         Ok(dir)
     }
 
@@ -215,6 +224,7 @@ impl Vfs {
     pub fn new<B: VfsBackend>(backend: B) -> Self {
         let lock = VfsInner {
             backend: Box::new(backend),
+            watch_enabled: true,
         };
 
         Self {
@@ -229,6 +239,16 @@ impl Vfs {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Turns automatic file watching on or off. Enabled by default.
+    ///
+    /// Turning off file watching may be useful for single-use cases, especially
+    /// on platforms like macOS where registering file watches has significant
+    /// performance cost.
+    pub fn set_watch_enabled(&self, enabled: bool) {
+        let mut inner = self.inner.lock().unwrap();
+        inner.watch_enabled = enabled;
+    }
+
     /// Read a file from the VFS, or the underlying backend if it isn't
     /// resident.
     ///
@@ -318,6 +338,15 @@ pub struct VfsLock<'a> {
 }
 
 impl VfsLock<'_> {
+    /// Turns automatic file watching on or off. Enabled by default.
+    ///
+    /// Turning off file watching may be useful for single-use cases, especially
+    /// on platforms like macOS where registering file watches has significant
+    /// performance cost.
+    pub fn set_watch_enabled(&mut self, enabled: bool) {
+        self.inner.watch_enabled = enabled;
+    }
+
     /// Read a file from the VFS, or the underlying backend if it isn't
     /// resident.
     ///