diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/builditem/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/builditem/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem.java
index a7efbbbc4f677..fccb78cd8afb6 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/builditem/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/builditem/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem.java
@@ -1,22 +1,51 @@
 package io.quarkus.deployment.builditem;
 
+import java.util.function.Predicate;
+
 import io.quarkus.builder.item.MultiBuildItem;
 
 /**
- * A file that if modified may result in a hot redeployment when in the dev mode.
+ * Identifies a file that if modified may result in a hot redeployment when in the dev mode.
+ * <p>
+ * A file may be identified with an exact location or a matching predicate. See {@link Builder#setLocation(String)} and
+ * {@link Builder#setPredicate(Predicate)}.
  */
 public final class HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem extends MultiBuildItem {
 
+    public static Builder builder() {
+        return new Builder();
+    }
+
     private final String location;
+    private final Predicate<String> predicate;
 
     private final boolean restartNeeded;
 
+    /**
+     * 
+     * @param location
+     * @see #builder()
+     */
     public HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem(String location) {
         this(location, true);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * 
+     * @param location
+     * @param restartNeeded
+     * @see #builder()
+     */
     public HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem(String location, boolean restartNeeded) {
+        this(location, null, restartNeeded);
+    }
+
+    private HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem(String location, Predicate<String> predicate, boolean restartNeeded) {
+        if (location == null && predicate == null) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Either location or predicate must be set");
+        }
         this.location = location;
+        this.predicate = predicate;
         this.restartNeeded = restartNeeded;
     }
 
@@ -24,6 +53,18 @@ public String getLocation() {
         return location;
     }
 
+    public boolean hasLocation() {
+        return location != null;
+    }
+
+    public Predicate<String> getPredicate() {
+        return predicate;
+    }
+
+    public boolean hasPredicate() {
+        return predicate != null;
+    }
+
     /**
      *
      * @return {@code true} if a file change should result in an application restart, {@code false} otherwise
@@ -32,4 +73,37 @@ public boolean isRestartNeeded() {
         return restartNeeded;
     }
 
+    public static class Builder {
+
+        private String location;
+        private Predicate<String> predicate;
+        private boolean restartNeeded = true;
+
+        public Builder setLocation(String location) {
+            if (predicate != null) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Predicate already set");
+            }
+            this.location = location;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        public Builder setPredicate(Predicate<String> predicate) {
+            if (location != null) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Location already set");
+            }
+            this.predicate = predicate;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        public Builder setRestartNeeded(boolean restartNeeded) {
+            this.restartNeeded = restartNeeded;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        public HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem build() {
+            return new HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem(location, predicate, restartNeeded);
+        }
+
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildStep.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildStep.java
index d4b832420f7cb..42019a63fc767 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildStep.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildStep.java
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Map.Entry;
+import java.util.function.Predicate;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import io.quarkus.deployment.annotations.BuildStep;
@@ -18,14 +20,21 @@ ServiceStartBuildItem setupWatchedFileHotDeployment(List<HotDeploymentWatchedFil
         // TODO: this should really be an output of the RuntimeRunner
         RuntimeUpdatesProcessor processor = RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.INSTANCE;
         if (processor != null || launchModeBuildItem.isAuxiliaryApplication()) {
-            Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths = files.stream()
+
+            Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths = files.stream().filter(HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem::hasLocation)
                     .collect(Collectors.toMap(HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem::getLocation,
                             HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem::isRestartNeeded,
                             (isRestartNeeded1, isRestartNeeded2) -> isRestartNeeded1 || isRestartNeeded2));
+
+            List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>> watchedFilePredicates = files.stream()
+                    .filter(HotDeploymentWatchedFileBuildItem::hasPredicate)
+                    .map(f -> Map.entry(f.getPredicate(), f.isRestartNeeded()))
+                    .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableList());
+
             if (launchModeBuildItem.isAuxiliaryApplication()) {
-                TestWatchedFiles.setWatchedFilePaths(watchedFilePaths);
+                TestWatchedFiles.setWatchedFilePaths(watchedFilePaths, watchedFilePredicates);
             } else {
-                processor.setWatchedFilePaths(watchedFilePaths, false);
+                processor.setWatchedFilePaths(watchedFilePaths, watchedFilePredicates, false);
             }
         }
         return null;
diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.java
index 63dad57889b28..ca34f9df5d3fe 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -331,11 +332,10 @@ private void periodicTestCompile() {
             }
             Set<String> filesChanges = new HashSet<>(checkForFileChange(s -> s.getTest().orElse(null), test));
             filesChanges.addAll(checkForFileChange(DevModeContext.ModuleInfo::getMain, test));
-            boolean configFileRestartNeeded = filesChanges.stream().map(test.watchedFilePaths::get)
-                    .anyMatch(Boolean.TRUE::equals);
+            boolean fileRestartNeeded = filesChanges.stream().anyMatch(test::isWatchedFileRestartNeeded);
 
             ClassScanResult merged = ClassScanResult.merge(changedTestClassResult, changedApp);
-            if (configFileRestartNeeded) {
+            if (fileRestartNeeded) {
                 if (testCompileProblem == null) {
                     testSupport.runTests(null);
                 }
@@ -462,21 +462,19 @@ public boolean doScan(boolean userInitiated, boolean forceRestart) {
                     main, false);
             Set<String> filesChanged = checkForFileChange(DevModeContext.ModuleInfo::getMain, main);
 
-            boolean configFileRestartNeeded = forceRestart || filesChanged.stream().map(main.watchedFilePaths::get)
-                    .anyMatch(Boolean.TRUE::equals);
+            boolean fileRestartNeeded = forceRestart || filesChanged.stream().anyMatch(main::isWatchedFileRestartNeeded);
             boolean instrumentationChange = false;
 
             List<Path> changedFilesForRestart = new ArrayList<>();
-            if (configFileRestartNeeded) {
-                changedFilesForRestart
-                        .addAll(filesChanged.stream().filter(fn -> Boolean.TRUE.equals(main.watchedFilePaths.get(fn)))
-                                .map(Paths::get).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+            if (fileRestartNeeded) {
+                filesChanged.stream().filter(main::isWatchedFileRestartNeeded).map(Paths::get)
+                        .forEach(changedFilesForRestart::add);
             }
             changedFilesForRestart.addAll(changedClassResults.getChangedClasses());
             changedFilesForRestart.addAll(changedClassResults.getAddedClasses());
             changedFilesForRestart.addAll(changedClassResults.getDeletedClasses());
 
-            if (ClassChangeAgent.getInstrumentation() != null && lastStartIndex != null && !configFileRestartNeeded
+            if (ClassChangeAgent.getInstrumentation() != null && lastStartIndex != null && !fileRestartNeeded
                     && devModeType != DevModeType.REMOTE_LOCAL_SIDE && instrumentationEnabled()) {
                 //attempt to do an instrumentation based reload
                 //if only code has changed and not the class structure, then we can do a reload
@@ -530,7 +528,7 @@ public boolean doScan(boolean userInitiated, boolean forceRestart) {
             //all broken we just assume the reason that they have refreshed is because they have fixed something
             //trying to watch all resource files is complex and this is likely a good enough solution for what is already an edge case
             boolean restartNeeded = !instrumentationChange && (changedClassResults.isChanged()
-                    || (IsolatedDevModeMain.deploymentProblem != null && userInitiated) || configFileRestartNeeded);
+                    || (IsolatedDevModeMain.deploymentProblem != null && userInitiated) || fileRestartNeeded);
             if (restartNeeded) {
                 String changeString = changedFilesForRestart.stream().map(Path::getFileName).map(Object::toString)
                         .collect(Collectors.joining(", "));
@@ -1083,12 +1081,14 @@ public RuntimeUpdatesProcessor setDisableInstrumentationForIndexPredicate(
         return this;
     }
 
-    public RuntimeUpdatesProcessor setWatchedFilePaths(Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths, boolean isTest) {
+    public RuntimeUpdatesProcessor setWatchedFilePaths(Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths,
+            List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>> watchedFilePredicates, boolean isTest) {
         if (isTest) {
             setWatchedFilePathsInternal(watchedFilePaths, test,
                     s -> s.getTest().isPresent() ? asList(s.getTest().get(), s.getMain()) : singletonList(s.getMain()));
         } else {
             main.watchedFileTimestamps.clear();
+            main.watchedFilePredicates = watchedFilePredicates;
             setWatchedFilePathsInternal(watchedFilePaths, main, s -> singletonList(s.getMain()));
         }
         return this;
@@ -1225,6 +1225,7 @@ static class TimestampSet {
         final Map<Path, Path> classFilePathToSourceFilePath = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
         // file path -> isRestartNeeded
         private volatile Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths = Collections.emptyMap();
+        volatile List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>> watchedFilePredicates = Collections.emptyList();
 
         public void merge(TimestampSet other) {
             watchedFileTimestamps.putAll(other.watchedFileTimestamps);
@@ -1233,7 +1234,21 @@ public void merge(TimestampSet other) {
             Map<String, Boolean> newVal = new HashMap<>(watchedFilePaths);
             newVal.putAll(other.watchedFilePaths);
             watchedFilePaths = newVal;
+            // The list of predicates should be effectively immutable
+            watchedFilePredicates = other.watchedFilePredicates;
+        }
 
+        boolean isWatchedFileRestartNeeded(String changedFile) {
+            Boolean ret = watchedFilePaths.get(changedFile);
+            if (ret == null) {
+                for (Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean> e : watchedFilePredicates) {
+                    if (e.getKey().test(changedFile)) {
+                        ret = e.getValue();
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return ret == null ? false : ret;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/testing/TestSupport.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/testing/TestSupport.java
index b72f5753c298e..a03138e2f7e3a 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/testing/TestSupport.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/dev/testing/TestSupport.java
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ private static Pattern getCompiledPatternOrNull(Optional<String> patternStr) {
 
     public void init() {
         if (moduleRunners.isEmpty()) {
-            TestWatchedFiles.setWatchedFilesListener((s) -> RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.INSTANCE.setWatchedFilePaths(s, true));
+            TestWatchedFiles.setWatchedFilesListener(
+                    (paths, predicates) -> RuntimeUpdatesProcessor.INSTANCE.setWatchedFilePaths(paths, predicates, true));
             final Pattern includeModulePattern = getCompiledPatternOrNull(config.includeModulePattern);
             final Pattern excludeModulePattern = getCompiledPatternOrNull(config.excludeModulePattern);
             for (var module : context.getAllModules()) {
diff --git a/core/devmode-spi/src/main/java/io/quarkus/dev/testing/TestWatchedFiles.java b/core/devmode-spi/src/main/java/io/quarkus/dev/testing/TestWatchedFiles.java
index dd42190200d8c..f80c0cec06541 100644
--- a/core/devmode-spi/src/main/java/io/quarkus/dev/testing/TestWatchedFiles.java
+++ b/core/devmode-spi/src/main/java/io/quarkus/dev/testing/TestWatchedFiles.java
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package io.quarkus.dev.testing;
 
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.function.Consumer;
+import java.util.Map.Entry;
+import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
+import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
 /**
  * provides a way for a test run to tell the external application about watched paths.
@@ -11,19 +14,23 @@
 public class TestWatchedFiles {
 
     private static volatile Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths;
-    private static volatile Consumer<Map<String, Boolean>> watchedFilesListener;
+    private static volatile BiConsumer<Map<String, Boolean>, List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>>> watchedFilesListener;
+    private static volatile List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>> watchedFilePredicates;
 
-    public synchronized static void setWatchedFilePaths(Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths) {
+    public synchronized static void setWatchedFilePaths(Map<String, Boolean> watchedFilePaths,
+            List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>> watchedFilePredicates) {
         TestWatchedFiles.watchedFilePaths = watchedFilePaths;
+        TestWatchedFiles.watchedFilePredicates = watchedFilePredicates;
         if (watchedFilesListener != null) {
-            watchedFilesListener.accept(watchedFilePaths);
+            watchedFilesListener.accept(watchedFilePaths, watchedFilePredicates);
         }
     }
 
-    public synchronized static void setWatchedFilesListener(Consumer<Map<String, Boolean>> watchedFilesListener) {
+    public synchronized static void setWatchedFilesListener(
+            BiConsumer<Map<String, Boolean>, List<Entry<Predicate<String>, Boolean>>> watchedFilesListener) {
         TestWatchedFiles.watchedFilesListener = watchedFilesListener;
         if (watchedFilePaths != null) {
-            watchedFilesListener.accept(watchedFilePaths);
+            watchedFilesListener.accept(watchedFilePaths, watchedFilePredicates);
         }
     }
 }