diff --git a/config/webpack/development.js b/config/webpack/development.js
index 830183c0d..12670f5cd 100644
--- a/config/webpack/development.js
+++ b/config/webpack/development.js
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@ const merge = require('webpack-merge');
 const sharedConfig = require('./shared.js');
 const { settings, output } = require('./configuration.js');
 
+const watchOptions = {
+  ignored: /node_modules/,
+};
+
+if (process.env.VAGRANT) {
+  // If we are in Vagrant, we can't rely on inotify to update us with changed
+  // files, so we must poll instead. Here, we poll every second to see if
+  // anything has changed.
+  watchOptions.poll = 1000;
+}
+
 module.exports = merge(sharedConfig, {
   devtool: 'cheap-module-eval-source-map',
 
@@ -26,8 +37,6 @@ module.exports = merge(sharedConfig, {
     headers: { 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*' },
     historyApiFallback: true,
     disableHostCheck: true,
-    watchOptions: {
-      ignored: /node_modules/,
-    },
+    watchOptions: watchOptions,
   },
 });