diff --git a/src/backend/FSEvents.zig b/src/backend/FSEvents.zig
index 3726d97..4624f2c 100644
--- a/src/backend/FSEvents.zig
+++ b/src/backend/FSEvents.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ const ObjectType = types.ObjectType;
 pub const watches_recursively = true; // FSEventStreamCreate watches the entire subtree
 pub const detects_file_modifications = true;
 pub const emits_close_events = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_files = true;
+pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = true;
 
 handler: *Handler,
 stream: ?*anyopaque, // FSEventStreamRef
diff --git a/src/backend/INotify.zig b/src/backend/INotify.zig
index 67d7242..7ec8050 100644
--- a/src/backend/INotify.zig
+++ b/src/backend/INotify.zig
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ pub fn Create(comptime variant: InterfaceType) type {
         pub const watches_recursively = false;
         pub const detects_file_modifications = true;
         pub const emits_close_events = true;
+        pub const emits_rename_for_files = true;
+        pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = true;
         pub const polling = variant == .polling;
 
         const WatchEntry = struct { path: []u8, is_dir: bool };
diff --git a/src/backend/KQueue.zig b/src/backend/KQueue.zig
index 1bf325d..aeee5fd 100644
--- a/src/backend/KQueue.zig
+++ b/src/backend/KQueue.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ const ObjectType = types.ObjectType;
 pub const watches_recursively = false;
 pub const detects_file_modifications = true;
 pub const emits_close_events = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_files = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = true;
 
 handler: *Handler,
 kq: std.posix.fd_t,
diff --git a/src/backend/KQueueDir.zig b/src/backend/KQueueDir.zig
index fd27548..0cf816f 100644
--- a/src/backend/KQueueDir.zig
+++ b/src/backend/KQueueDir.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ const ObjectType = types.ObjectType;
 pub const watches_recursively = false;
 pub const detects_file_modifications = false;
 pub const emits_close_events = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_files = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = true;
 pub const WatchEntry = struct { fd: std.posix.fd_t, is_file: bool };
 
 handler: *Handler,
diff --git a/src/backend/Windows.zig b/src/backend/Windows.zig
index ad477b9..050bf9c 100644
--- a/src/backend/Windows.zig
+++ b/src/backend/Windows.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ const ObjectType = types.ObjectType;
 pub const watches_recursively = true; // ReadDirectoryChangesW with bWatchSubtree=1
 pub const detects_file_modifications = true;
 pub const emits_close_events = false;
+pub const emits_rename_for_files = true;
+pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = true;
 
 const windows = std.os.windows;
 
diff --git a/src/nightwatch.zig b/src/nightwatch.zig
index 4b891a8..7fa107a 100644
--- a/src/nightwatch.zig
+++ b/src/nightwatch.zig
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ pub fn Create(comptime variant: Variant) type {
         /// modifications.
         pub const detects_file_modifications = Backend.detects_file_modifications;
         pub const emits_close_events = Backend.emits_close_events;
+        pub const emits_rename_for_files = Backend.emits_rename_for_files;
+        pub const emits_rename_for_dirs = Backend.emits_rename_for_dirs;
 
         /// Create a new watcher.
         ///
diff --git a/src/nightwatch_test.zig b/src/nightwatch_test.zig
index 323c56c..8230599 100644
--- a/src/nightwatch_test.zig
+++ b/src/nightwatch_test.zig
@@ -394,15 +394,56 @@ fn testRenameFile(comptime Watcher: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     try std.fs.renameAbsolute(src_path, dst_path);
     try drainEvents(Watcher, &watcher);
 
-    if (builtin.os.tag == .linux) {
-        try std.testing.expect(th.hasRename(src_path, dst_path));
+    if (comptime Watcher.emits_rename_for_files) {
+        // INotify delivers a paired atomic rename callback; FSEvents/Windows
+        // deliver individual .renamed change events per path.
+        const has_rename = th.hasRename(src_path, dst_path) or
+            th.hasChange(src_path, .renamed, .file);
+        try std.testing.expect(has_rename);
     } else {
-        const has_old = th.hasChange(src_path, .renamed, .file) or th.hasChange(src_path, .deleted, .file);
-        const has_new = th.hasChange(dst_path, .renamed, .file) or th.hasChange(dst_path, .created, .file);
-        try std.testing.expect(has_old or has_new);
+        // KQueue/KQueueDir: file rename appears as delete + create.
+        try std.testing.expect(th.hasChange(src_path, .deleted, .file));
+        try std.testing.expect(th.hasChange(dst_path, .created, .file));
     }
 }
 
+fn testRenameDir(comptime Watcher: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    if (comptime !Watcher.emits_rename_for_dirs) return error.SkipZigTest;
+
+    const TH = MakeTestHandler(Watcher);
+
+    const tmp = try makeTempDir(allocator);
+    defer {
+        removeTempDir(tmp);
+        allocator.free(tmp);
+    }
+
+    const th = try TH.init(allocator);
+    defer th.deinit();
+
+    const src_path = try std.fs.path.join(allocator, &.{ tmp, "before" });
+    defer allocator.free(src_path);
+    const dst_path = try std.fs.path.join(allocator, &.{ tmp, "after" });
+    defer allocator.free(dst_path);
+
+    try std.fs.makeDirAbsolute(src_path);
+
+    var watcher = try Watcher.init(allocator, &th.handler);
+    defer watcher.deinit();
+    try watcher.watch(tmp);
+
+    try std.fs.renameAbsolute(src_path, dst_path);
+    try drainEvents(Watcher, &watcher);
+
+    // All backends with emits_rename_for_dirs=true deliver at least a rename
+    // event for the source path. INotify delivers a paired rename callback;
+    // KQueue/KQueueDir deliver change(.renamed, .dir) for the old path only;
+    // FSEvents/Windows deliver change(.renamed, .dir) for both paths.
+    const has_rename = th.hasRename(src_path, dst_path) or
+        th.hasChange(src_path, .renamed, .dir);
+    try std.testing.expect(has_rename);
+}
+
 fn testUnwatchedDir(comptime Watcher: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
     const TH = MakeTestHandler(Watcher);
 
@@ -644,6 +685,12 @@ test "renaming a file is reported correctly per-platform" {
     }
 }
 
+test "renaming a directory emits a rename event" {
+    inline for (comptime std.enums.values(nw.Variant)) |variant| {
+        try testRenameDir(nw.Create(variant), std.testing.allocator);
+    }
+}
+
 test "an unwatched directory produces no events" {
     inline for (comptime std.enums.values(nw.Variant)) |variant| {
         try testUnwatchedDir(nw.Create(variant), std.testing.allocator);