diff --git a/src/daemon/application.c b/src/daemon/application.c
index 22b6f0d1a..32b407743 100644
--- a/src/daemon/application.c
+++ b/src/daemon/application.c
@@ -449,8 +449,8 @@ static bool application_regular_db_exists(const char *project) {
     if (written <= 0 || (size_t)written >= sizeof(path)) {
         return false;
     }
-    struct stat status;
-    return stat(path, &status) == 0 && S_ISREG(status.st_mode);
+    cbm_path_info_t status;
+    return cbm_path_info_utf8(path, &status) == CBM_PATH_INFO_OK && status.is_regular;
 }
 
 static bool application_canonical_directory_exists(const char *path) {
diff --git a/src/watcher/watcher.c b/src/watcher/watcher.c
index f8d04c4c6..ac7c47b7f 100644
--- a/src/watcher/watcher.c
+++ b/src/watcher/watcher.c
@@ -522,14 +522,28 @@ static watcher_git_status_t git_repo_status(cbm_watcher_t *w, project_state_t *s
  * a `.git` file (the gitlink form used by linked worktrees and initialized
  * submodules). Deliberately a filesystem check, not a git invocation — the whole
  * point is to learn something `rev-parse` cannot tell us, because it walks up. */
+/* Preserve stat's link-following behavior while inspecting UTF-8 paths. */
+static int watcher_path_info(const char *path, cbm_path_info_t *info) {
+    int status = cbm_path_info_utf8(path, info);
+    if (status == CBM_PATH_INFO_OK && info->is_symlink) {
+        char canonical[CBM_SZ_4K];
+        if (!cbm_canonical_path(path, canonical, sizeof(canonical))) {
+            return CBM_PATH_INFO_UNAVAILABLE;
+        }
+        status = cbm_path_info_utf8(canonical, info);
+    }
+    return status;
+}
+
 static bool git_has_own_dot_git(const char *root_path) {
     char path[CBM_SZ_4K];
     int written = snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/.git", root_path);
     if (written <= 0 || (size_t)written >= sizeof(path)) {
         return false;
     }
-    struct stat st;
-    return stat(path, &st) == 0 && (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) || S_ISREG(st.st_mode));
+    cbm_path_info_t info;
+    return watcher_path_info(path, &info) == CBM_PATH_INFO_OK &&
+           (info.is_directory || info.is_regular);
 }
 
 /* Does the ancestor repository actually track anything inside this directory?
@@ -990,13 +1004,17 @@ static root_status_t root_status(const char *root_path, int *out_errno) {
     if (!root_path) {
         return ROOT_UNCERTAIN;
     }
-    struct stat st;
-    if (stat(root_path, &st) == 0) {
-        /* Exists but is no longer a directory → the root directory is gone. */
-        return S_ISDIR(st.st_mode) ? ROOT_PRESENT : ROOT_MISSING;
+    cbm_path_info_t info;
+    int status = watcher_path_info(root_path, &info);
+    if (status == CBM_PATH_INFO_OK) {
+        return info.is_directory ? ROOT_PRESENT : ROOT_MISSING;
     }
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    *out_errno = status == CBM_PATH_INFO_ABSENT ? ENOENT : EIO;
+#else
     *out_errno = errno;
-    return cbm_watcher_root_missing_errno(errno) ? ROOT_MISSING : ROOT_UNCERTAIN;
+#endif
+    return status == CBM_PATH_INFO_ABSENT ? ROOT_MISSING : ROOT_UNCERTAIN;
 }
 
 /* Sustained-absence window (seconds) before a missing root may be pruned.
@@ -1338,8 +1356,8 @@ static void publish_status(project_state_t *s, bool scanned) {
 
 /* Init baseline for a project: check if git, get HEAD, count files */
 static bool init_baseline(cbm_watcher_t *w, project_state_t *s) {
-    struct stat st;
-    if (stat(s->root_path, &st) != 0) {
+    cbm_path_info_t info;
+    if (watcher_path_info(s->root_path, &info) != CBM_PATH_INFO_OK || !info.is_directory) {
         cbm_log_warn("watcher.root_gone", "project", s->project_name, "path", s->root_path);
         s->baseline_done = true;
         s->is_git = false;
diff --git a/tests/test_watcher.c b/tests/test_watcher.c
index e0b78cffc..8be483ca8 100644
--- a/tests/test_watcher.c
+++ b/tests/test_watcher.c
@@ -1103,8 +1103,8 @@ TEST(watcher_stop_and_unwatch_cancel_blocked_git_without_backstop) {
     watcher_windows_image_identity_t expected_git;
     ASSERT_TRUE(watcher_windows_capture_image_identity(fake_git, &expected_git));
 
-    const char *old_path_raw = getenv("PATH");
-    const char *old_marker_raw = getenv(WATCHER_TEST_BLOCKING_GIT_MARKER_ENV);
+    const char *old_path_raw = cbm_runtime_getenv("PATH");
+    const char *old_marker_raw = cbm_runtime_getenv(WATCHER_TEST_BLOCKING_GIT_MARKER_ENV);
     char *old_path = old_path_raw ? cbm_strdup(old_path_raw) : NULL;
     char *old_marker = old_marker_raw ? cbm_strdup(old_marker_raw) : NULL;
     size_t path_size = strlen(bin) + 2 + (old_path ? strlen(old_path) : 0);
@@ -1238,8 +1238,8 @@ TEST(watcher_stop_and_unwatch_cancel_blocked_git_without_backstop) {
     ASSERT_TRUE(watcher_test_self_image(self));
     ASSERT_EQ(symlink(self, fake_git), 0);
 
-    const char *old_path_raw = getenv("PATH");
-    const char *old_marker_raw = getenv(WATCHER_TEST_BLOCKING_GIT_MARKER_ENV);
+    const char *old_path_raw = cbm_runtime_getenv("PATH");
+    const char *old_marker_raw = cbm_runtime_getenv(WATCHER_TEST_BLOCKING_GIT_MARKER_ENV);
     char *old_path = old_path_raw ? strdup(old_path_raw) : NULL;
     char *old_marker = old_marker_raw ? strdup(old_marker_raw) : NULL;
     size_t path_size = strlen(bin) + 2 + (old_path ? strlen(old_path) : 0);
@@ -3995,7 +3995,41 @@ TEST(watcher_null_watch_count) {
  *  SUITE
  * ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ */
 
+TEST(watcher_unicode_root_is_not_pruned_as_missing) {
+    char *parent = th_mktempdir("cbm_watch_utf8");
+    ASSERT_NOT_NULL(parent);
+    char root[CBM_SZ_4K];
+    snprintf(root, sizeof(root), "%s/\xE6\x97\xA5\xE6\x9C\xAC\xE8\xAA\x9E", parent);
+    ASSERT_EQ(th_mkdir_p(root), 0);
+    const char *saved = cbm_runtime_getenv("CBM_WATCHER_PRUNE_GRACE_S");
+    char *saved_copy = saved ? strdup(saved) : NULL;
+    cbm_setenv("CBM_WATCHER_PRUNE_GRACE_S", "0", 1);
+    cbm_store_t *store = cbm_store_open_memory();
+    cbm_store_upsert_project(store, "unicode-root", root);
+    cbm_watcher_t *watcher = cbm_watcher_new(store, NULL, NULL);
+    cbm_watcher_watch(watcher, "unicode-root", root);
+    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
+        cbm_watcher_poll_once(watcher);
+    }
+    cbm_project_t info = {0};
+    bool kept = cbm_watcher_watch_count(watcher) == 1 &&
+                cbm_store_get_project(store, "unicode-root", &info) == CBM_STORE_OK;
+    cbm_project_free_fields(&info);
+    cbm_watcher_free(watcher);
+    cbm_store_close(store);
+    if (saved_copy) {
+        cbm_setenv("CBM_WATCHER_PRUNE_GRACE_S", saved_copy, 1);
+    } else {
+        cbm_unsetenv("CBM_WATCHER_PRUNE_GRACE_S");
+    }
+    free(saved_copy);
+    ASSERT_EQ(th_rmtree(parent), 0);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(kept);
+    PASS();
+}
+
 SUITE(watcher) {
+    RUN_TEST(watcher_unicode_root_is_not_pruned_as_missing);
     /* Adaptive interval */
     RUN_TEST(poll_interval_base);
     RUN_TEST(poll_interval_scaling);