diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/dynamic-build.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/dynamic-build.ts
index 72cf965e..9865e8f0 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/dynamic-build.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/dynamic-build.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export const dynamicBuild = ({ config, verbose }: { config: Config; verbose: boo
 
       const cache = yield* $(
         pipe(
-          config.source.fetchData({ schemaDef, verbose, skipCachePersistence: true }),
+          config.source.fetchData({ schemaDef, verbose, skipCachePersistence: true, watch: false }),
           S.runHead,
           T.map(O.getUnsafe),
           T.chain((_) => T.fromEither(() => _)),
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/generation/generate-dotpkg.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/generation/generate-dotpkg.ts
index 14cbe0c2..46056f9e 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/generation/generate-dotpkg.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/generation/generate-dotpkg.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export const generateDotpkgStream = ({
     S.fromEffect(resolveParams),
     S.chainMapEitherRight(({ schemaDef, targetPath }) =>
       pipe(
-        config.source.fetchData({ schemaDef, verbose }),
+        config.source.fetchData({ schemaDef, verbose, watch: isDev }),
         S.mapEffectEitherRight((cache) =>
           pipe(
             writeFilesForCache({ config, schemaDef, targetPath, cache, generationOptions, writtenFilesCache, isDev }),
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/plugin.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/plugin.ts
index 8b469152..4d1ad341 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/core/src/plugin.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ export type FetchData = (_: {
   schemaDef: SchemaDef
   verbose: boolean
   skipCachePersistence?: boolean
+  watch?: boolean
 }) => S.Stream<
   OT.HasTracer & HasClock & HasCwd & HasConsole & fs.HasFs,
   never,
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/fetchData/index.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/fetchData/index.ts
index 2fbefc92..7a6a0ddd 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/fetchData/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/fetchData/index.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export const fetchData = ({
   contentDirExclude,
   skipCachePersistence = false,
   verbose,
+  watch = true,
 }: {
   coreSchemaDef: core.SchemaDef
   documentTypeDefs: LocalSchema.DocumentTypeDef[]
@@ -38,6 +39,12 @@ export const fetchData = ({
    */
   skipCachePersistence?: boolean
   verbose: boolean
+  /**
+   * Whether file system changes should be watched for incremental updates.
+   * Disable this for one-off builds to avoid hanging on environments without
+   * file watcher support (e.g. sandboxed CI agents).
+   */
+  watch?: boolean
 }): S.Stream<
   OT.HasTracer & HasCwd & HasConsole & fs.HasFs,
   never,
@@ -48,18 +55,18 @@ export const fetchData = ({
 
   const initEvent: CustomUpdateEventInit = { _tag: 'init' }
 
-  const watchPaths = contentDirInclude.length > 0 ? contentDirInclude : ['.']
-
-  const fileUpdatesStream = pipe(
-    FSWatch.makeAndSubscribe(watchPaths, {
-      cwd: contentDirPath,
-      ignoreInitial: true,
-      ignored: contentDirExclude as unknown as string[], // NOTE type cast needed because of readonly array
-      // Unfortunately needed in order to avoid race conditions
-      awaitWriteFinish: { stabilityThreshold: 50, pollInterval: 10 },
-    }),
-    S.mapEitherRight(chokidarAllEventToCustomUpdateEvent),
-  )
+  const fileUpdatesStream = watch
+    ? pipe(
+        FSWatch.makeAndSubscribe(contentDirInclude.length > 0 ? contentDirInclude : ['.'], {
+          cwd: contentDirPath,
+          ignoreInitial: true,
+          ignored: contentDirExclude as unknown as string[], // NOTE type cast needed because of readonly array
+          // Unfortunately needed in order to avoid race conditions
+          awaitWriteFinish: { stabilityThreshold: 50, pollInterval: 10 },
+        }),
+        S.mapEitherRight(chokidarAllEventToCustomUpdateEvent),
+      )
+    : S.fromIterable<E.Either<FSWatch.FileWatcherError, CustomUpdateEvent>>([])
 
   const resolveParams = pipe(
     skipCachePersistence
diff --git a/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/index.ts b/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/index.ts
index 48dd1e44..13cfa7c5 100644
--- a/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@contentlayer/source-files/src/index.ts
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ export const makeSource: core.MakeSourcePlugin<Args> = (args) => async (sourceKe
         makeCoreSchema({ documentTypeDefs, options, esbuildHash }),
         T.mapError((error) => new SourceProvideSchemaError({ error })),
       ),
-    fetchData: ({ schemaDef, verbose, skipCachePersistence }) =>
+    fetchData: ({ schemaDef, verbose, skipCachePersistence, watch }) =>
       pipe(
         S.fromEffect(core.getCwd),
         S.chain((cwd) => {
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ export const makeSource: core.MakeSourcePlugin<Args> = (args) => async (sourceKe
             contentDirInclude,
             verbose,
             skipCachePersistence,
+            watch,
           })
         }),
       ),