diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 9e2d678f..47cdd3f5 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -108,20 +108,19 @@ impl RustNotify {
         })
     }
 
-    pub fn watch(&self, py: Python, debounce_ms: u64, step_ms: u64, cancel_event: PyObject) -> PyResult<PyObject> {
-        let event_not_none = !cancel_event.is_none(py);
+    pub fn watch(&self, py: Python, debounce_ms: u64, step_ms: u64, stop_event: PyObject) -> PyResult<PyObject> {
+        let event_not_none = !stop_event.is_none(py);
 
         let mut max_time: Option<SystemTime> = None;
         let step_time = Duration::from_millis(step_ms);
         let mut last_size: usize = 0;
-        let none: Option<bool> = None;
         loop {
             py.allow_threads(|| sleep(step_time));
             match py.check_signals() {
                 Ok(_) => (),
                 Err(_) => {
                     self.clear();
-                    return Ok(none.to_object(py));
+                    return Ok("signalled".to_object(py));
                 }
             };
 
@@ -130,9 +129,9 @@ impl RustNotify {
                 return Err(WatchfilesRustInternalError::new_err(error.clone()));
             }
 
-            if event_not_none && cancel_event.getattr(py, "is_set")?.call0(py)?.is_true(py)? {
+            if event_not_none && stop_event.getattr(py, "is_set")?.call0(py)?.is_true(py)? {
                 self.clear();
-                return Ok(none.to_object(py));
+                return Ok("stopped".to_object(py));
             }
 
             let size = self.changes.lock().unwrap().len();
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index a9c67d91..0d324645 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def watch(self, debounce_ms: int, step_ms: int, cancel_event):
         try:
             change = next(self.iter_changes)
         except StopIteration:
-            return None
+            return 'signalled'
         else:
             self.watch_count += 1
             return change
diff --git a/tests/test_watch.py b/tests/test_watch.py
index 73a186ef..7b409b04 100644
--- a/tests/test_watch.py
+++ b/tests/test_watch.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import sys
+import threading
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from pathlib import Path
 from time import sleep
@@ -23,6 +24,16 @@ def test_watch(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
     assert changes == {(Change.added, str((tmp_path / 'foo.txt')))}
 
 
+def test_wait_stop_event(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
+    sleep(0.1)
+    write_soon(tmp_path / 'foo.txt')
+
+    stop_event = threading.Event()
+    for changes in watch(tmp_path, watch_filter=None, stop_event=stop_event):
+        assert changes == {(Change.added, str((tmp_path / 'foo.txt')))}
+        stop_event.set()
+
+
 async def test_awatch(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
     sleep(0.1)
     write_soon(tmp_path / 'foo.txt')
@@ -31,7 +42,7 @@ async def test_awatch(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
         break
 
 
-async def test_await_stop(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
+async def test_await_stop_event(tmp_path: Path, write_soon):
     sleep(0.1)
     write_soon(tmp_path / 'foo.txt')
     stop_event = anyio.Event()
diff --git a/watchfiles/_rust_notify.pyi b/watchfiles/_rust_notify.pyi
index dd3435a5..bcc7591d 100644
--- a/watchfiles/_rust_notify.pyi
+++ b/watchfiles/_rust_notify.pyi
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import List, Optional, Protocol, Set, Tuple
+from typing import List, Literal, Optional, Protocol, Set, Tuple, Union
 
 __all__ = 'RustNotify', 'WatchfilesRustInternalError'
 
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ class RustNotify:
         self,
         debounce_ms: int,
         step_ms: int,
-        cancel_event: Optional[AbstractEvent],
-    ) -> Optional[Set[Tuple[int, str]]]:
+        stop_event: Optional[AbstractEvent],
+    ) -> Union[Literal['signalled', 'stopped'], Set[Tuple[int, str]]]:
         """
         Watch for changes and return a set of `(event_type, path)` tuples.
 
@@ -40,11 +40,12 @@ class RustNotify:
             debounce_ms: maximum time in milliseconds to group changes over before returning.
             step_ms: time to wait for new changes in milliseconds, if no changes are detected
                 in this time, and at least one change has been detected, the changes are yielded.
-            cancel_event: event to check on every iteration to see if this function should return early.
+            stop_event: event to check on every iteration to see if this function should return early.
 
         Returns:
-            A set of `(event_type, path)` tuples,
-            the event types are ints which match [`Change`][watchfiles.Change].
+            Either a set of `(event_type, path)` tuples
+            (the event types are ints which match [`Change`][watchfiles.Change]),
+            `'signalled'` if a signal was received, or `'stopped'` if the `stop_event` was set.
         """
 
 class WatchfilesRustInternalError(RuntimeError):
diff --git a/watchfiles/main.py b/watchfiles/main.py
index 6ebb0d6e..d541a07b 100644
--- a/watchfiles/main.py
+++ b/watchfiles/main.py
@@ -43,17 +43,23 @@ def raw_str(self) -> str:
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     import asyncio
+    from typing import Protocol
 
     import trio
 
     AnyEvent = Union[anyio.Event, asyncio.Event, trio.Event]
 
+    class AbstractEvent(Protocol):
+        def is_set(self) -> bool:
+            ...
+
 
 def watch(
     *paths: Union[Path, str],
     watch_filter: Optional[Callable[['Change', str], bool]] = DefaultFilter(),
     debounce: int = 1_600,
     step: int = 50,
+    stop_event: Optional['AbstractEvent'] = None,
     debug: bool = False,
     raise_interrupt: bool = True,
 ) -> Generator[Set[FileChange], None, None]:
@@ -69,6 +75,8 @@ def watch(
         debounce: maximum time in milliseconds to group changes over before yielding them.
         step: time to wait for new changes in milliseconds, if no changes are detected in this time, and
             at least one change has been detected, the changes are yielded.
+        stop_event: event to stop watching, if this is set, the generator will stop yielding changes,
+            this can be anything with an `is_set()` method which returns a bool, e.g. `threading.Event()`.
         debug: whether to print information about all filesystem changes in rust to stdout.
         raise_interrupt: whether to re-raise `KeyboardInterrupt`s, or suppress the error and just stop iterating.
 
@@ -84,18 +92,20 @@ def watch(
     """
     watcher = RustNotify([str(p) for p in paths], debug)
     while True:
-        raw_changes = watcher.watch(debounce, step, None)
-        if raw_changes is None:
+        raw_changes = watcher.watch(debounce, step, stop_event)
+        if raw_changes == 'signalled':
             if raise_interrupt:
                 raise KeyboardInterrupt
             else:
                 logger.warning('KeyboardInterrupt caught, stopping watch')
                 return
-
-        changes = _prep_changes(raw_changes, watch_filter)
-        if changes:
-            _log_changes(changes)
-            yield changes
+        elif raw_changes == 'stopped':
+            return
+        else:
+            changes = _prep_changes(raw_changes, watch_filter)
+            if changes:
+                _log_changes(changes)
+                yield changes
 
 
 async def awatch(
@@ -186,7 +196,8 @@ async def signal_handler() -> None:
             raw_changes = await anyio.to_thread.run_sync(watcher.watch, debounce, step, stop_event_)
             tg.cancel_scope.cancel()
 
-        if raw_changes is None:
+        # cover both cases here although in theory the watch thread should never get a signal
+        if raw_changes == 'stopped' or raw_changes == 'signalled':
             if interrupted:
                 if raise_interrupt:
                     raise KeyboardInterrupt