diff --git a/scripts/dev-runner.cjs b/scripts/dev-runner.cjs
index 10a991a..54c7a0b 100644
--- a/scripts/dev-runner.cjs
+++ b/scripts/dev-runner.cjs
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ function createWatchedPaths(projectRoot) {
   ].map(target => path.join(projectRoot, target));
 }
 
+function formatChangeMessage(file) {
+  return `[hotdev] change detected: ${file}\n`;
+}
+
 function createRestartController({ startChild, stopChild, onUnexpectedExit = () => {} }) {
   let child = null;
   let terminatingChild = null;
@@ -208,7 +212,7 @@ function runDevRunner() {
   }
 
   watcher.on('all', (_event, file) => {
-    process.stdout.write(`[hotdev] renderer change detected: ${file}\n`);
+    process.stdout.write(formatChangeMessage(file));
     scheduleRestart();
   });
 
@@ -243,6 +247,6 @@ function runDevRunner() {
   controller.start();
 }
 
-module.exports = { createRestartController, createWatchedPaths };
+module.exports = { createRestartController, createWatchedPaths, formatChangeMessage };
 
 if (require.main === module) runDevRunner();
diff --git a/tests/dev-runner.test.js b/tests/dev-runner.test.js
index 2b888cf..e0ca6a4 100644
--- a/tests/dev-runner.test.js
+++ b/tests/dev-runner.test.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ const test = require('node:test');
 const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
 const { EventEmitter } = require('node:events');
 const path = require('node:path');
-const { createRestartController, createWatchedPaths } = require('../scripts/dev-runner.cjs');
+const { createRestartController, createWatchedPaths, formatChangeMessage } = require('../scripts/dev-runner.cjs');
 
 function createDeferred() {
   let resolve;
@@ -118,3 +118,7 @@ test('watch paths still cover main, preloads, lib and renderer', () => {
     path.join(projectRoot, 'renderer')
   ]);
 });
+
+test('change log identifies every watched file without calling it a renderer change', () => {
+  assert.equal(formatChangeMessage('C:\\project\\lib\\hosters.js'), '[hotdev] change detected: C:\\project\\lib\\hosters.js\n');
+});