diff --git a/lib/guard/listener.rb b/lib/guard/listener.rb
index 8144cff..8d14c1a 100644
--- a/lib/guard/listener.rb
+++ b/lib/guard/listener.rb
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ module Guard
 
     def modified_files(dirs, options = {})
       files = potentially_modified_files(dirs, options).select { |path| File.file?(path) && file_modified?(path) && file_content_modified?(path) }
-      files.map! { |file| file.gsub("#{directory}/", '') }
+      relativate_paths files
     end
 
     def worker
@@ -58,6 +58,18 @@ module Guard
       raise NotImplementedError, "do whatever you want here, given the directory as only argument"
     end
 
+    def all_files
+      potentially_modified_files [directory + '/'], :all => true
+    end
+
+    # scopes all given paths to the current #directory
+    def relativate_paths(paths)
+      paths.map do |path| 
+        path.gsub(%r~^#{directory}/~, '')
+      end
+    end
+
+
   private
 
     def potentially_modified_files(dirs, options = {})
diff --git a/lib/guard/listeners/linux.rb b/lib/guard/listeners/linux.rb
index 7bae611..242b0a7 100644
--- a/lib/guard/listeners/linux.rb
+++ b/lib/guard/listeners/linux.rb
@@ -66,8 +66,7 @@ module Guard
 
           unless files.empty?
             files.uniq!
-            files.map! { |file| file.gsub("#{directory}/", '') }
-            callback.call(files)
+            callback.call( relativate_paths(files) )
             files.clear
           end
         end
diff --git a/lib/guard/listeners/polling.rb b/lib/guard/listeners/polling.rb
index fa1697e..af140a9 100644
--- a/lib/guard/listeners/polling.rb
+++ b/lib/guard/listeners/polling.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module Guard
   class Polling < Listener
-    attr_reader :callback, :latency
+    attr_reader :callback, :latency, :existing
 
     def initialize(*)
       super
@@ -23,17 +23,28 @@ module Guard
     def watch_change
       until @stop
         start = Time.now.to_f
-        files = modified_files([directory + '/'], :all => true)
+        current = all_files
+        changed = []
+        # removed files
+        changed += existing - current
+        # added files
+        changed += current - existing
+        # modified
+        changed += existing.select { |path| File.file?(path) && file_modified?(path) && file_content_modified?(path) }
         update_last_event
-        callback.call(files) unless files.empty?
+
+        changed.uniq!
+
+        callback.call( relativate_paths(changed) ) unless changed.empty?
+        @existing = current
         nap_time = latency - (Time.now.to_f - start)
         sleep(nap_time) if nap_time > 0
       end
     end
 
-    # we have no real worker here
     # FIXME: cannot watch muliple directories, but is not needed in guard (yet?)
     def watch(directory)
+      @existing = all_files
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/spec/guard/listener_spec.rb b/spec/guard/listener_spec.rb
index d527e2b..90f5da2 100644
--- a/spec/guard/listener_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/guard/listener_spec.rb
@@ -29,6 +29,22 @@ describe Guard::Listener do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "#all_files" do
+    subject { described_class.new(@fixture_path) }
+
+    it "should return all files" do
+      subject.all_files.should =~ Dir.glob("#{@fixture_path}/**/*")
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe "#relativate_paths" do
+    subject { described_class.new }
+    it "should relavate paths to the configured directory" do
+      subject.stub!(:directory).and_return('/tmp')
+      subject.relativate_paths(%w( /tmp/a /tmp/a/b /tmp/a.b/c.d )).should =~ %w( a a/b a.b/c.d )
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "#update_last_event" do
     subject { described_class.new }