diff --git a/pkg/api/api_impl.go b/pkg/api/api_impl.go
index f695e6430bf..ebe7df7a3d2 100644
--- a/pkg/api/api_impl.go
+++ b/pkg/api/api_impl.go
@@ -1106,8 +1106,11 @@ func (ctx *internalContext) Watch(options WatchOptions) error {
 		return errors.New("Watch mode has already been enabled")
 	}
 
+	logLevel := ctx.args.logOptions.LogLevel
 	ctx.watcher = &watcher{
-		fs: ctx.realFS,
+		fs:        ctx.realFS,
+		shouldLog: logLevel == logger.LevelInfo || logLevel == logger.LevelDebug || logLevel == logger.LevelVerbose,
+		useColor:  ctx.args.logOptions.Color,
 		rebuild: func() fs.WatchData {
 			return ctx.rebuild().watchData
 		},
@@ -1117,7 +1120,7 @@ func (ctx *internalContext) Watch(options WatchOptions) error {
 	ctx.args.options.WatchMode = true
 
 	// Start the file watcher goroutine
-	ctx.watcher.start(ctx.args.logOptions.LogLevel, ctx.args.logOptions.Color)
+	ctx.watcher.start()
 
 	// Do the first watch mode build on another goroutine
 	go func() {
diff --git a/pkg/api/watcher.go b/pkg/api/watcher.go
index d140df07301..efe62776dba 100644
--- a/pkg/api/watcher.go
+++ b/pkg/api/watcher.go
@@ -56,12 +56,22 @@ type watcher struct {
 	mutex             sync.Mutex
 	itemsPerIteration int
 	shouldStop        int32
+	shouldLog         bool
+	useColor          logger.UseColor
 	stopWaitGroup     sync.WaitGroup
 }
 
 func (w *watcher) setWatchData(data fs.WatchData) {
 	defer w.mutex.Unlock()
 	w.mutex.Lock()
+
+	// Print something for the end of the first build
+	if w.shouldLog && w.data.Paths == nil {
+		logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, w.useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
+			return fmt.Sprintf("%s[watch] build finished, watching for changes...%s\n", colors.Dim, colors.Reset)
+		})
+	}
+
 	w.data = data
 	w.itemsToScan = w.itemsToScan[:0] // Reuse memory
 
@@ -76,30 +86,22 @@ func (w *watcher) setWatchData(data fs.WatchData) {
 	w.recentItems = w.recentItems[:end]
 }
 
-func (w *watcher) start(logLevel logger.LogLevel, useColor logger.UseColor) {
+func (w *watcher) start() {
 	w.stopWaitGroup.Add(1)
 
 	go func() {
-		shouldLog := logLevel == logger.LevelInfo || logLevel == logger.LevelDebug || logLevel == logger.LevelVerbose
-
 		// Note: Do not change these log messages without a breaking version change.
 		// People want to run regexes over esbuild's stderr stream to look for these
 		// messages instead of using esbuild's API.
 
-		if shouldLog {
-			logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
-				return fmt.Sprintf("%s[watch] build finished, watching for changes...%s\n", colors.Dim, colors.Reset)
-			})
-		}
-
 		for atomic.LoadInt32(&w.shouldStop) == 0 {
 			// Sleep for the watch interval
 			time.Sleep(watchIntervalSleep)
 
 			// Rebuild if we're dirty
 			if absPath := w.tryToFindDirtyPath(); absPath != "" {
-				if shouldLog {
-					logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
+				if w.shouldLog {
+					logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, w.useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
 						prettyPath := resolver.PrettyPath(w.fs, logger.Path{Text: absPath, Namespace: "file"})
 						return fmt.Sprintf("%s[watch] build started (change: %q)%s\n", colors.Dim, prettyPath, colors.Reset)
 					})
@@ -108,8 +110,8 @@ func (w *watcher) start(logLevel logger.LogLevel, useColor logger.UseColor) {
 				// Run the build
 				w.setWatchData(w.rebuild())
 
-				if shouldLog {
-					logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
+				if w.shouldLog {
+					logger.PrintTextWithColor(os.Stderr, w.useColor, func(colors logger.Colors) string {
 						return fmt.Sprintf("%s[watch] build finished%s\n", colors.Dim, colors.Reset)
 					})
 				}