diff --git a/include/uv.h b/include/uv.h
index c2efa0a9..58e424b1 100644
--- a/include/uv.h
+++ b/include/uv.h
@@ -1166,13 +1166,33 @@ struct uv_fs_event_s {
  */
 UV_EXTERN void uv_loadavg(double avg[3]);
 
+
 /*
-* If filename is a directory then we will watch for all events in that
-* directory. If filename is a file - we will only get events from that
-* file. Subdirectories are not watched.
-*/
+ * Flags to be passed to uv_fs_event_init.
+ */
+enum uv_fs_event_flags {
+  /*
+   * By default, if the fs event watcher is given a directory name, we will
+   * watch for all events in that directory. This flags overrides this behavior
+   * and makes fs_event report only changes to the directory entry itself. This
+   * flag does not affect individual files watched.
+   * This flag is currently not implemented yet on any backend.
+   */
+ UV_FS_EVENT_WATCH_ENTRY = 1,
+
+  /*
+   * By default uv_fs_event will try to use a kernel interface such as inotify
+   * or kqueue to detect events. This may not work on remote filesystems such
+   * as NFS mounts. This flag makes fs_event fall back to calling stat() on a
+   * regular interval.
+   * This flag is currently not implemented yet on any backend.
+   */
+  UV_FS_EVENT_STAT = 2
+};
+
+
 UV_EXTERN int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop, uv_fs_event_t* handle,
-    const char* filename, uv_fs_event_cb cb);
+    const char* filename, uv_fs_event_cb cb, int flags);
 
 /* Utility */
 
diff --git a/src/unix/cygwin.c b/src/unix/cygwin.c
index 2f0680a4..024e7d5b 100644
--- a/src/unix/cygwin.c
+++ b/src/unix/cygwin.c
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ uint64_t uv_get_total_memory(void) {
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop,
                      uv_fs_event_t* handle,
                      const char* filename,
-                     uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+                     uv_fs_event_cb cb,
+                     int flags) {
   uv__set_sys_error(loop, ENOSYS);
   return -1;
 }
diff --git a/src/unix/kqueue.c b/src/unix/kqueue.c
index c2cb7194..00180cd4 100644
--- a/src/unix/kqueue.c
+++ b/src/unix/kqueue.c
@@ -86,9 +86,13 @@ void uv__kqueue_hack(EV_P_ int fflags, ev_io *w) {
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop,
                      uv_fs_event_t* handle,
                      const char* filename,
-                     uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+                     uv_fs_event_cb cb,
+                     int flags) {
   int fd;
 
+  /* We don't support any flags yet. */
+  assert(!flags);
+
   if (cb == NULL) {
     uv__set_sys_error(loop, EINVAL);
     return -1;
@@ -122,7 +126,8 @@ void uv__fs_event_destroy(uv_fs_event_t* handle) {
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop,
                      uv_fs_event_t* handle,
                      const char* filename,
-                     uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+                     uv_fs_event_cb cb,
+                     int flags) {
   uv__set_sys_error(loop, ENOSYS);
   return -1;
 }
diff --git a/src/unix/linux.c b/src/unix/linux.c
index e7ca1840..aa16f981 100644
--- a/src/unix/linux.c
+++ b/src/unix/linux.c
@@ -156,10 +156,14 @@ static void uv__inotify_read(EV_P_ ev_io* w, int revents) {
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop,
                      uv_fs_event_t* handle,
                      const char* filename,
-                     uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+                     uv_fs_event_cb cb,
+                     int flags) {
   int flags;
   int fd;
 
+  /* We don't support any flags yet. */
+  assert(!flags);
+
   /*
    * TODO share a single inotify fd across the event loop?
    * We'll run into fs.inotify.max_user_instances if we
diff --git a/src/unix/sunos.c b/src/unix/sunos.c
index 10314e46..f5312207 100644
--- a/src/unix/sunos.c
+++ b/src/unix/sunos.c
@@ -137,9 +137,13 @@ static void uv__fs_event_read(EV_P_ ev_io* w, int revents) {
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop,
                      uv_fs_event_t* handle,
                      const char* filename,
-                     uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+                     uv_fs_event_cb cb,
+                     int flags) {
   int portfd;
 
+  /* We don't support any flags yet. */
+  assert(!flags);
+
   if ((portfd = port_create()) == -1) {
     uv__set_sys_error(loop, errno);
     return -1;
diff --git a/src/win/fs-event.c b/src/win/fs-event.c
index 54e39fa0..b2f6583a 100644
--- a/src/win/fs-event.c
+++ b/src/win/fs-event.c
@@ -133,12 +133,15 @@ static int uv_split_path(const wchar_t* filename, wchar_t** dir,
 
 
 int uv_fs_event_init(uv_loop_t* loop, uv_fs_event_t* handle,
-    const char* filename, uv_fs_event_cb cb) {
+    const char* filename, uv_fs_event_cb cb, int flags) {
   int name_size;
   DWORD attr, last_error;
   wchar_t* dir = NULL, *dir_to_watch, *filenamew;
   wchar_t short_path[MAX_PATH];
 
+  /* We don't support any flags yet. */
+  assert(!flags);
+
   uv_fs_event_init_handle(loop, handle, filename, cb);
 
   /* Convert name to UTF16. */
diff --git a/test/test-fs-event.c b/test/test-fs-event.c
index fe700f4f..c1f23fe9 100644
--- a/test/test-fs-event.c
+++ b/test/test-fs-event.c
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ TEST_IMPL(fs_event_watch_dir) {
   uv_fs_rmdir(loop, &fs_req, "watch_dir", NULL);
   create_dir(loop, "watch_dir");
 
-  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_dir", fs_event_cb_dir);
+  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_dir", fs_event_cb_dir, 0);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
   r = uv_timer_init(loop, &timer);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ TEST_IMPL(fs_event_watch_file) {
   create_file(loop, "watch_dir/file1");
   create_file(loop, "watch_dir/file2");
 
-  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_dir/file2", fs_event_cb_file);
+  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_dir/file2", fs_event_cb_file, 0);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
   r = uv_timer_init(loop, &timer);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ TEST_IMPL(fs_event_watch_file_current_dir) {
   create_file(loop, "watch_file");
 
   r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_file",
-    fs_event_cb_file_current_dir);
+    fs_event_cb_file_current_dir, 0);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
 
   r = uv_timer_init(loop, &timer);
@@ -248,7 +248,11 @@ TEST_IMPL(fs_event_no_callback_on_close) {
   create_dir(loop, "watch_dir");
   create_file(loop, "watch_dir/file1");
 
-  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop, &fs_event, "watch_dir/file1", fs_event_cb_file);
+  r = uv_fs_event_init(loop,
+                       &fs_event,
+                       "watch_dir/file1",
+                       fs_event_cb_file,
+                       0);
   ASSERT(r != -1);
 
   uv_close((uv_handle_t*)&fs_event, close_cb);