diff --git a/app/Models/Application.php b/app/Models/Application.php
index 6541d7336..51abd60d6 100644
--- a/app/Models/Application.php
+++ b/app/Models/Application.php
@@ -1560,9 +1560,17 @@ private function parseWatchPaths($value)
         if ($value) {
             $watch_paths = collect(explode("\n", $value))
                 ->map(function (string $path): string {
-                    // Trim whitespace and remove leading slashes to normalize paths
+                    // Trim whitespace
                     $path = trim($path);
 
+                    if (str_starts_with($path, '!')) {
+                        $negation = '!';
+                        $pathWithoutNegation = substr($path, 1);
+                        $pathWithoutNegation = ltrim(trim($pathWithoutNegation), '/');
+
+                        return $negation.$pathWithoutNegation;
+                    }
+
                     return ltrim($path, '/');
                 })
                 ->filter(function (string $path): bool {