diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 81c167c2f..4b288ecfb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ CFLAGS ?= -Wall -O2 $(TIG_CFLAGS)
 
 prefix ?= $(HOME)
 bindir ?= $(prefix)/bin
+libexecdir ?= $(prefix)/libexec
 datarootdir ?= $(prefix)/share
 sysconfdir ?= $(prefix)/etc
 docdir ?= $(datarootdir)/doc
@@ -63,12 +64,13 @@ endif
 
 override CPPFLAGS += '-DTIG_VERSION="$(VERSION)"'
 override CPPFLAGS += '-DSYSCONFDIR="$(sysconfdir)"'
+override CPPFLAGS += '-DLIBEXECDIR="$(libexecdir)"'
 ifdef TIG_USER_CONFIG
 override CPPFLAGS += '-DTIG_USER_CONFIG="$(TIG_USER_CONFIG)"'
 endif
 
 ASCIIDOC ?= asciidoc
-ASCIIDOC_FLAGS = -aversion=$(VERSION) -asysconfdir=$(sysconfdir) -f doc/asciidoc.conf
+ASCIIDOC_FLAGS = -aversion=$(VERSION) -asysconfdir=$(sysconfdir) -alibexecdir=$(libexecdir) -f doc/asciidoc.conf
 XMLTO ?= xmlto
 DOCBOOK2PDF ?= docbook2pdf
 
@@ -88,9 +90,11 @@ doc-man: $(MANDOC)
 doc-html: $(HTMLDOC)
 
 export sysconfdir
+export libexecdir
 
 install: all
 	$(QUIET_INSTALL)tools/install.sh bin $(EXE) "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)"
+	$(QUIET_INSTALL)tools/install.sh bin contrib/tig-refresh-watcher "$(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)"
 	$(QUIET_INSTALL)tools/install.sh data tigrc "$(DESTDIR)$(sysconfdir)"
 
 install-doc-man: doc-man
@@ -122,6 +126,7 @@ install-release-doc: install-release-doc-man install-release-doc-html
 
 uninstall:
 	$(QUIET_UNINSTALL)tools/uninstall.sh "$(DESTDIR)$(bindir)/$(EXE:src/%=%)"
+	$(QUIET_UNINSTALL)tools/uninstall.sh "$(DESTDIR)$(libexecdir)/tig_refresh_watcher"
 	$(QUIET_UNINSTALL)tools/uninstall.sh "$(DESTDIR)$(sysconfdir)/tigrc"
 	$(Q)$(foreach doc, $(filter %.1, $(MANDOC:doc/%=%)), \
 		$(QUIET_UNINSTALL_EACH)tools/uninstall.sh "$(DESTDIR)$(mandir)/man1/$(doc)";)
diff --git a/contrib/tig-refresh-watcher b/contrib/tig-refresh-watcher
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2ad51f365
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/tig-refresh-watcher
@@ -0,0 +1,416 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# tig-refresh-watcher
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2006-2017 Jonas Fonseca <jonas.fonseca@gmail.com>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+# the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# notes
+#
+#     entr has two categories of event
+#      * modifications to known files
+#      * modifications to known directories (optional, given -d)
+#
+#     Entr responds differently to each category.  For a file-event, entr
+#     invokes a command.  For a directory-event, entr exits.  This script
+#     arranges to send tig a SIGWINCH in both cases.
+#
+#     See comments in _tig_refresh_watcher about tradeoffs WRT the number
+#     of signals forwarded to tig on directory-events.
+#
+#     This script expects to be run from tig like
+#
+#         /full/path/to/libexec/tig-refresh-watcher -quiet -find_root -tig_pid=<pid>
+#
+
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e
+set -u
+
+###
+### global variables
+###
+
+opt_tig_pid=''
+opt_watch_path="$(pwd 2>/dev/null)"
+opt_entr="$(which entr 2>/dev/null)"
+opt_restart=300                # seconds
+opt_quiet=''                   # -n boolean
+opt_find_root=''               # -n boolean
+opt_debug=''                   # -n boolean
+
+timer_granularity=5            # seconds
+tig_standup_grace=1            # seconds
+throttle_interval=1.0          # seconds, optimistically as a float
+tig_signal_event='WINCH'
+entr_signal_shutdown='INT'
+timer_signal_shutdown='HUP'
+floatsleep_method=''
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn ()
+{
+	if [ -n "$opt_quiet" ]; then
+		return
+	fi
+
+	printf 'tig-refresh-watcher: %s\n' "$*" 1>&2
+}
+
+die ()
+{
+	warn "$@"
+	exit 1
+}
+
+process_arguments ()
+{
+	usage="[ -watch_path=<path> | -find_root | -entr=<path> | -restart=<sec> | -quiet ] -tig_pid=<pid>
+
+Used internally by tig to monitor filesystem events in a git repository.
+
+Requires the external utility \"entr\".
+
+Required arguments
+
+    -tig_pid=<pid>
+
+                 Signal filesystem events to the given tig process ID, and
+                 quit if that process ID ceases to exist.
+
+Options
+
+    -watch_path=<path>
+
+                 Monitor all files, recursively, under the given path,
+                 typically a git repository root.  Defaults to the current
+                 working directory.
+
+    -find_root
+
+                 Coerce the -watch_path value upward to a repository root.
+
+    -entr=<path>
+
+                 Optional full path to the entr executable.
+
+    -restart=<sec>
+
+                 Hard restart entr every <sec> seconds.  Defaults to $opt_restart.
+
+    -quiet       Give minimal output, but exit with a nonzero status code on
+                 error.
+
+    -debug       Emit debug details, including output passed through from entr
+                 and git.
+"
+
+	if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
+		die "$usage"
+	fi
+
+	while [ "$#" -ge 1 ]; do
+		elt="$1" && shift
+		case "$elt" in
+			-help|--help|-h)
+				printf 'tig-refresh-watcher %s' "$usage"
+				exit
+				;;
+			-tig[_-]pid|--tig[_-]pid|-tig[_-]pid=|--tig[_-]pid=)
+				[ "$#" -ge 1 ] || die '-tig_pid requires a value'
+				opt_tig_pid="$1" && shift
+				;;
+			-tig[_-]pid=?*|--tig[_-]pid=?*)
+				opt_tig_pid="$(expr "$elt" : '--*tig[_-]pid=\(..*\)')"
+				;;
+			-watch[_-]path|--watch[_-]path|-watch[_-]path=|--watch[_-]path=)
+				[ "$#" -ge 1 ] || die '-watch_path requires a value'
+				opt_watch_path="$1" && shift
+				;;
+			-watch[_-]path=?*|--watch[_-]path=?*)
+				opt_watch_path="$(expr "$elt" : '--*watch[_-]path=\(..*\)')"
+				;;
+			-entr|--entr|-entr=|--entr=)
+				[ "$#" -ge 1 ] || die '-entr requires a value'
+				opt_entr="$1" && shift
+				;;
+			-entr=?*|--entr=?*)
+				opt_entr="$(expr "$elt" : '--*entr=\(..*\)')"
+				;;
+			-restart|--restart|-restart=|--restart=)
+				[ "$#" -ge 1 ] || die '-restart requires a value'
+				opt_restart="$1" && shift
+				;;
+			-restart=?*|--restart=?*)
+				opt_restart="$(expr "$elt" : '--*restart=\(..*\)')"
+				;;
+			-quiet|--quiet)
+				opt_quiet='yes'
+				;;
+			-debug|--debug)
+				opt_debug='yes'
+				;;
+			-find[_-]root|--find[_-]root)
+				opt_find_root='yes'
+				;;
+			*)
+				die "No such option: '$elt'"
+				;;
+		esac
+	done
+
+	case "$opt_tig_pid$opt_restart" in
+		*[!0-9]*) die '-tig_pid/-restart values must be integers';;
+	esac
+
+	if ! [ 0"$opt_tig_pid" -ge 1 ]; then
+		die "bad or missing -tig_pid value: '$opt_tig_pid'"
+	fi
+
+	if ! [ 0"$opt_restart" -ge 1 ]; then
+		die "bad -restart value: '$opt_restart'"
+	fi
+
+	if [ -z "$opt_entr" ]; then
+		die 'could not find entr executable'
+	fi
+
+	if ! [ -x "$opt_entr" ]; then
+		die "bad -entr value: '$opt_entr'"
+	fi
+
+	# -watch_path value handled separately
+}
+
+ensure_watch_path ()
+{
+	if [ -n "$opt_find_root" ]; then
+		if [ -z "$opt_watch_path" ]; then
+			opt_watch_path="$(pwd 2>/dev/null)"
+		fi
+		if [ -z "$opt_watch_path" ]; then
+			die "can't find repository root"
+		fi
+		if ! [ -d "$opt_watch_path" ]; then
+			opt_watch_path="$(dirname -- "$opt_watch_path" 2>/dev/null)"
+		fi
+		opt_watch_path="$(cd "$opt_watch_path" 2>/dev/null && git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)"
+		if ! [ -d "$opt_watch_path" ]; then
+			die "can't find repository root"
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	if ! [ -d "$opt_watch_path" ]; then
+		die "bad -watch_path value: '$opt_watch_path'"
+	fi
+
+	opt_watch_path="$(cd "$opt_watch_path" 2>/dev/null && pwd 2>/dev/null)"
+	cd "$opt_watch_path" || die "can't cd to '$opt_watch_path'"
+
+	if ! git ls-files "$opt_watch_path" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		die "failed to run git ls-files"
+	fi
+
+	if [ -z "$(git ls-files "$opt_watch_path" 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
+		die "no files to monitor"
+	fi
+}
+
+ensure_tig_pid ()
+{
+	kill -0 "$opt_tig_pid" 2>/dev/null || die "no tig process at '$opt_tig_pid'"
+}
+
+find_floatsleep ()
+{
+	if sleep .01 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		floatsleep_method='sleep'
+		return
+	fi
+	for program in 'gsleep' 'ksh' 'zsh' 'perl' 'python'; do
+		if which "$program" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+			floatsleep_method="$program"
+			return
+		fi
+	done
+}
+
+# necessarily imperfect
+floatsleep ()
+{
+	case "$floatsleep_method" in
+		sleep)  sleep "$1";;
+		gsleep) gsleep "$1";;
+		ksh)    ksh -c "sleep '$1'";;
+		zsh)    zsh -c "sleep '$1'";;
+		perl)   perl -e "select(undef, undef, undef, $1)";;
+		python) python -c "import time; time.sleep($1)";;
+		*)
+		_as_integer="$(printf '%d' "$1")"
+		if [ "$_as_integer" -eq 0 ]; then
+			_as_integer=1
+		fi
+		sleep "$_as_integer"
+		;;
+	esac
+}
+
+init_redirects ()
+{
+	if [ -n "$opt_debug" ]; then
+		exec 3>&1
+	else
+		exec 3>/dev/null
+	fi
+}
+
+install_timer ()
+{
+	entr_pid="$1"
+
+	(
+		counter=0
+		while [ "$counter" -lt "$opt_restart" ]; do
+			counter="$((counter + timer_granularity))"
+			sleep "$timer_granularity"
+			kill -0 "$opt_tig_pid" && kill -0 "$entr_pid" || break
+		done
+		if [ -n "$opt_debug" ] && [ "$counter" -ge "$opt_restart" ]; then
+			warn "restart timer expired"
+		fi
+		kill -"$entr_signal_shutdown" "$entr_pid" || true
+	) >&3 2>&1 &
+
+	timer_pid="$!"
+	printf '%s' "$timer_pid"
+}
+
+pid_report ()
+{
+	if [ -z "$opt_debug" ]; then
+		return
+	fi
+
+	if kill -0 "${1:-}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		warn "tig process is up"
+	else
+		warn "tig process is down"
+	fi
+
+	if kill -0 "${2:-}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		warn "entr process is up"
+	else
+		warn "entr process is down"
+	fi
+
+	if kill -0 "${3:-}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		warn "timer process is up"
+	else
+		warn "timer process is down"
+	fi
+}
+
+###
+### main
+###
+
+_tig_refresh_watcher ()
+{
+	# On the first pass through the loop, don't let entr fire one "hello
+	# signal" as soon as it starts ("-p" option).  Otherwise allow the
+	# hello signal.
+	#
+	# Allowing hellos does result in extra signals being sent to tig for
+	# the case of directory-events, with a ceiling of 2X the number of
+	# signals, spaced by $throttle_interval.
+	#
+	# This compromise is a consequence of entr exiting in response to
+	# directory-events.  The "while true" loop will restart entr, but
+	# there is no way of knowing whether some additional filesystem change
+	# occurred during the brief interval during which entr was not
+	# running.  The hello signal covers that case.
+	#
+	# Alternatively, the hello signal could be used as the only method for
+	# directory-event notification, by removing the shell line
+	#
+	#     kill -"$tig_signal_event" "$opt_tig_pid"
+	#
+	# That would eliminate the extra signal chatter, at the cost of
+	# substantial added latency before tig receives any notification.
+	#
+	# Tig's TUI refresh logic should also be throttled.  floatsleep() is
+	# provided here in case of some tricky interaction between the two
+	# throttles.
+	entr_flags_first_run='-dp'
+	entr_flags_later_runs='-d'
+
+	entr_flags="$entr_flags_first_run"
+
+	{
+		while true; do
+
+			if [ -n "$opt_debug" ]; then
+				git ls-files "$opt_watch_path" | \
+				exec "$opt_entr" "$entr_flags" sh -c "printf '%s\n' 'entr: file altered'; kill -'$tig_signal_event' '$opt_tig_pid'" &
+				entr_pid="$!"
+			else
+				git ls-files "$opt_watch_path" | \
+				exec "$opt_entr" "$entr_flags" kill -"$tig_signal_event" "$opt_tig_pid" &
+				entr_pid="$!"
+			fi
+
+			timer_pid="$(install_timer "$entr_pid")"
+			wait "$entr_pid"                              || true
+
+			entr_flags="$entr_flags_later_runs"
+
+			kill -"$tig_signal_event"      "$opt_tig_pid" || true
+			kill -"$timer_signal_shutdown" "$timer_pid"   || true
+			kill -0                        "$opt_tig_pid" || break
+
+			floatsleep "$throttle_interval"
+		done
+
+		pid_report "$opt_tig_pid" "$entr_pid" "$timer_pid"
+
+	} >&3 2>&1
+}
+
+###
+### initialization
+###
+
+process_arguments "$@"
+
+ensure_watch_path
+
+ensure_tig_pid
+
+find_floatsleep
+
+init_redirects
+
+sleep "$tig_standup_grace"
+
+###
+### dispatch
+###
+
+_tig_refresh_watcher
+
+# vim: set ts=8 sw=8 noexpandtab:
diff --git a/doc/tigrc.5.adoc b/doc/tigrc.5.adoc
index 859595d89..d80bd959c 100644
--- a/doc/tigrc.5.adoc
+++ b/doc/tigrc.5.adoc
@@ -355,14 +355,18 @@ The following variables can be set:
 	Mouse support requires that ncurses itself support mouse events and that
 	you have enabled mouse support in ~/.tigrc with `set mouse = true`.
 
-'refresh-mode' (mixed) [manual|auto|after-command|periodic|<bool>]::
+'refresh-mode' (mixed) [manual|auto|after-command|periodic|entr|<bool>]::
 
 	Configures how views are refreshed based on modifications to watched
 	files in the repository. When set to 'manual', nothing is refreshed
 	automatically. When set to 'auto', views are refreshed when a
 	modification is detected. When set to 'after-command' only refresh after
 	returning from an external command. When set to 'periodic', visible
-	views are refreshed periodically using 'refresh-interval'.
+	views are refreshed periodically using 'refresh-interval'. When set
+	to 'entr', views are refreshed when the external tool
+	http://entrproject.org/[entr] reports a relevant filesystem event.
+	The `entr` executable must be installed separately from tig and
+	visible on `$PATH`.
 
 'refresh-interval' (int)::
 
diff --git a/include/tig/types.h b/include/tig/types.h
index 6bc481af7..0f66997c6 100644
--- a/include/tig/types.h
+++ b/include/tig/types.h
@@ -159,7 +159,8 @@ bool map_enum_do(const struct enum_map_entry *map, size_t map_size, int *value,
 	_(REFRESH_MODE, MANUAL), \
 	_(REFRESH_MODE, AUTO), \
 	_(REFRESH_MODE, AFTER_COMMAND), \
-	_(REFRESH_MODE, PERIODIC),
+	_(REFRESH_MODE, PERIODIC), \
+	_(REFRESH_MODE, ENTR),
 
 #define ENUM_INFO(_) \
 	_(author, AUTHOR_ENUM) \
diff --git a/src/display.c b/src/display.c
index 7d9cc7f0e..0023b9e6b 100644
--- a/src/display.c
+++ b/src/display.c
@@ -762,6 +762,8 @@ get_input(int prompt_position, struct key *key)
 {
 	struct view *view;
 	int i, key_value, cursor_y, cursor_x;
+	static time_t last_winch = 0;
+	int winch_refresh_throttle = 1;
 
 	if (prompt_position > 0)
 		input_mode = true;
@@ -822,6 +824,21 @@ get_input(int prompt_position, struct key *key)
 
 		} else if (key_value == KEY_RESIZE) {
 			int height, width;
+			bool refs_refreshed = false;
+			time_t now = time(NULL);
+
+			if ((now - last_winch) >= winch_refresh_throttle) {
+				foreach_displayed_view (view, i) {
+					if (view_can_refresh(view)) {
+						if (!refs_refreshed) {
+							load_refs(true);
+							refs_refreshed = true;
+						}
+						refresh_view(view);
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			last_winch = now;
 
 			getmaxyx(stdscr, height, width);
 
diff --git a/src/tig.c b/src/tig.c
index a67305e1c..d255b3ee7 100644
--- a/src/tig.c
+++ b/src/tig.c
@@ -739,6 +739,14 @@ die_if_failed(enum status_code code, const char *msg)
 		die("%s: %s", msg, get_status_message(code));
 }
 
+void
+hangup_children(void)
+{
+	if (signal(SIGHUP, SIG_IGN) == SIG_ERR)
+		return;
+	killpg(getpid(), SIGHUP);
+}
+
 int
 main(int argc, const char *argv[])
 {
@@ -749,6 +757,8 @@ main(int argc, const char *argv[])
 
 	init_tty();
 
+	atexit(hangup_children);
+
 	if (signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN) == SIG_ERR)
 		die("Failed to setup signal handler");
 
@@ -798,6 +808,14 @@ main(int argc, const char *argv[])
 		run_prompt_command(NULL, script_command);
 	}
 
+	if ((opt_refresh_mode == REFRESH_MODE_ENTR) && repo.git_dir[0]) {
+		const char *watcher_argv[] = { "sh", "-c", NULL, NULL };
+		char watcher_cmd[SIZEOF_STR] = "";
+		string_format(watcher_cmd, "%s -quiet -find_root -tig_pid=%d &", LIBEXECDIR "/tig-refresh-watcher", getpid());
+		watcher_argv[2] = watcher_cmd;
+		io_run_bg(watcher_argv, repo.cdup);
+	}
+
 	while (view_driver(display[current_view], request)) {
 		view = display[current_view];
 		request = read_key_combo(view->keymap);
diff --git a/test/main/filter-args-test b/test/main/filter-args-test
index 784b754ad..f2031167c 100755
--- a/test/main/filter-args-test
+++ b/test/main/filter-args-test
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ steps '
 
 test_tig --exclude=refs/remotes/origin/* --exclude=refs/heads/master --all -- common tracer
 
-grep 'git rev-parse' < "$TIG_TRACE" > rev-parse.trace
+grep 'git rev-parse' < "$TIG_TRACE" | grep -v 'TIG_PID' > rev-parse.trace
 grep 'git log' < "$TIG_TRACE" > log.trace
 
 assert_equals 'rev-parse.trace' <<EOF
diff --git a/tools/install.sh b/tools/install.sh
index 89cd969fb..f7bcf4163 100755
--- a/tools/install.sh
+++ b/tools/install.sh
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ fi
 case "$src" in doc/*)
 	dest="$dest/$(basename "$src")"
 	sed "s#++SYSCONFDIR++#${sysconfdir}#" < "$src" > "$src+"
+	sed "s#++LIBEXECDIR++#${libexecdir}#" < "$src" > "$src+"
 	trash="$src+"
 	src="$src+"
 esac
diff --git a/tools/release.sh b/tools/release.sh
index 0b0dc5767..740e5b551 100755
--- a/tools/release.sh
+++ b/tools/release.sh
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ git checkout release
 HEAD="$(git rev-parse release)"
 git merge master
 if test -n "$(git rev-list -1 release ^$HEAD)"; then
-	make distclean doc-man doc-html sysconfdir=++SYSCONFDIR++
+	make distclean doc-man doc-html sysconfdir=++SYSCONFDIR++ libexecdir=++LIBEXECDIR++
 	git commit -a -m "Update for version $TAG"
 fi