diff --git a/src/macos/FSEventsBackend.cc b/src/macos/FSEventsBackend.cc
index 76850d02..b8cec030 100644
--- a/src/macos/FSEventsBackend.cc
+++ b/src/macos/FSEventsBackend.cc
@@ -71,29 +71,24 @@ void FSEventsCallback(
       list->update(paths[i]);
     } else {
       // If multiple flags were set, then we need to call `stat` to determine if the file really exists.
-      // We also check our local cache of recently modified files to see if we knew about it before.
       // This helps disambiguate creates, updates, and deletes.
-      auto existed = !since && state->tree->find(paths[i]);
       struct stat file;
       if (stat(paths[i], &file)) {
-        // File does not exist now. If it existed before in our local cache,
-        // or was removed/renamed and we don't have a cache (querying since a snapshot)
-        // then the file was probably removed. This is not exact since the flags set by
-        // fsevents get coalesced together (e.g. created & deleted), so there is no way to
+        // File does not exist, so we have to assume it was removed. This is not exact since the
+        // flags set by fsevents get coalesced together (e.g. created & deleted), so there is no way to
         // know whether the create and delete both happened since our snapshot (in which case
         // we'd rather ignore this event completely). This will result in some extra delete events
         // being emitted for files we don't know about, but that is the best we can do.
-        if (existed || (since && (isRemoved || isRenamed))) {
-          state->tree->remove(paths[i]);
-          list->remove(paths[i]);
-        }
-
+        state->tree->remove(paths[i]);
+        list->remove(paths[i]);
         continue;
       }
 
       // If the file was modified, and existed before, then this is an update, otherwise a create.
-      uint64_t mtime = CONVERT_TIME(file.st_birthtimespec);
-      if (isModified && (existed || mtime <= since)) {
+      uint64_t ctime = CONVERT_TIME(file.st_birthtimespec);
+      uint64_t mtime = CONVERT_TIME(file.st_mtimespec);
+      auto existed = !since && state->tree->find(paths[i]);
+      if (isModified && (existed || ctime <= since)) {
         state->tree->update(paths[i], mtime);
         list->update(paths[i]);
       } else {
diff --git a/test/since.js b/test/since.js
index 8bfc527d..afdcae93 100644
--- a/test/since.js
+++ b/test/since.js
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ function testPrecision() {
 const isSecondPrecision = testPrecision();
 
 describe('since', () => {
+  const sleep = (ms = 20) => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+
+  before(async () => {
+    // wait for tmp dir to be created.
+    await sleep();
+  });
+
   after(async () => {
     try {
       await fs.unlink(snapshotPath);
@@ -48,8 +55,6 @@ describe('since', () => {
   });
 
   backends.forEach(backend => {
-    const sleep = (ms = 10) => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
-
     describe(backend, () => {
       describe('files', () => {
         it('should emit when a file is created', async () => {
diff --git a/test/watcher.js b/test/watcher.js
index d77e02c7..35957622 100644
--- a/test/watcher.js
+++ b/test/watcher.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
             .toString(31)
             .slice(2)}`,
         );
-      let ignoreDir, ignoreFile, sub;
+      let ignoreDir, ignoreFile, fileToRename, dirToRename, sub;
 
       before(async () => {
         tmpDir = path.join(
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
         fs.mkdirpSync(tmpDir);
         ignoreDir = getFilename();
         ignoreFile = getFilename();
+        fileToRename = getFilename();
+        dirToRename = getFilename();
+        fs.writeFileSync(fileToRename, 'hi');
+        fs.mkdirpSync(dirToRename);
         await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
         sub = await watcher.subscribe(tmpDir, fn, {
           backend,
@@ -103,6 +107,16 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
           ]);
         });
 
+        it('should emit when an existing file is renamed', async () => {
+          let f2 = getFilename();
+          fs.rename(fileToRename, f2);
+          let res = await nextEvent();
+          assert.deepEqual(res, [
+            {type: 'delete', path: fileToRename},
+            {type: 'create', path: f2},
+          ]);
+        });
+
         it('should emit when a file is deleted', async () => {
           let f = getFilename();
           fs.writeFile(f, 'hello world');
@@ -137,6 +151,16 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
           ]);
         });
 
+        it('should emit when an existing directory is renamed', async () => {
+          let f2 = getFilename();
+          fs.rename(dirToRename, f2);
+          let res = await nextEvent();
+          assert.deepEqual(res, [
+            {type: 'create', path: f2},
+            {type: 'delete', path: dirToRename},
+          ]);
+        });
+
         it('should emit when a directory is deleted', async () => {
           let f = getFilename();
           fs.mkdir(f);
@@ -321,17 +345,6 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
       });
 
       describe('rapid changes', () => {
-        it('should ignore files that are created and deleted rapidly', async () => {
-          let f1 = getFilename();
-          let f2 = getFilename();
-          await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
-          await fs.writeFile(f2, 'hello world');
-          fs.unlink(f2);
-
-          let res = await nextEvent();
-          assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f1}]);
-        });
-
         it('should coalese create and update events', async () => {
           let f1 = getFilename();
           await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
@@ -341,29 +354,42 @@ describe('watcher', () => {
           assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f1}]);
         });
 
-        it('should coalese create and rename events', async () => {
-          let f1 = getFilename();
-          let f2 = getFilename();
-          await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
-          fs.rename(f1, f2);
-
-          let res = await nextEvent();
-          assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f2}]);
-        });
-
-        it('should coalese multiple rename events', async () => {
-          let f1 = getFilename();
-          let f2 = getFilename();
-          let f3 = getFilename();
-          let f4 = getFilename();
-          await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
-          await fs.rename(f1, f2);
-          await fs.rename(f2, f3);
-          fs.rename(f3, f4);
-
-          let res = await nextEvent();
-          assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f4}]);
-        });
+        if (backend !== 'fs-events') {
+          it('should ignore files that are created and deleted rapidly', async () => {
+            let f1 = getFilename();
+            let f2 = getFilename();
+            await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
+            await fs.writeFile(f2, 'hello world');
+            fs.unlink(f2);
+
+            let res = await nextEvent();
+            assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f1}]);
+          });
+
+          it('should coalese create and rename events', async () => {
+            let f1 = getFilename();
+            let f2 = getFilename();
+            await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
+            fs.rename(f1, f2);
+
+            let res = await nextEvent();
+            assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f2}]);
+          });
+
+          it('should coalese multiple rename events', async () => {
+            let f1 = getFilename();
+            let f2 = getFilename();
+            let f3 = getFilename();
+            let f4 = getFilename();
+            await fs.writeFile(f1, 'hello world');
+            await fs.rename(f1, f2);
+            await fs.rename(f2, f3);
+            fs.rename(f3, f4);
+
+            let res = await nextEvent();
+            assert.deepEqual(res, [{type: 'create', path: f4}]);
+          });
+        }
 
         it('should coalese multiple update events', async () => {
           let f1 = getFilename();