lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm | 2 ++

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
index a337fb0d80c228ab70e2e7014a16164b6deb259f..8faf74a29466f84bf55c59aaab685051bb300a6b 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LEI.pm
@@ -578,6 +578,7 @@ 	}
 	close $listener if $listener;
 	undef $listener;
 	$dir_idle->force_close if $dir_idle;
+	undef $dir_idle;
 	%PATH2CFG = ();
 	$MDIR2CFGPATH = {};
 	eval 'no warnings; undef $PublicInbox::LeiNoteEvent::to_flush';
@@ -1413,6 +1414,7 @@ }
 
 sub refresh_watches {
 	my ($lei) = @_;
+	$dir_idle or return;
 	my $cfg = _lei_cfg($lei) or return;
 	my $old = $cfg->{-watches};
 	my $watches = $cfg->{-watches} //= {};