diff --git a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
index 71d2afbc01dc..4a7936ce8fc4 100644
--- a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db.rs
@@ -189,19 +189,11 @@ where
 
     fn on_event(&self, event: &Event<'_>, ctx: tracing_subscriber::layer::Context<'_, S>) {
         let metadata = event.metadata();
-        // The SDK emits DEBUG timer meta-events every second per process; these
-        // were over 30% of retained logs in measured high-fanout Codex environments.
-        if metadata.target() == "opentelemetry_sdk"
-            && matches!(
-                *metadata.level(),
-                tracing::Level::TRACE | tracing::Level::DEBUG
-            )
-        {
-            return;
-        }
-
         let mut visitor = MessageVisitor::default();
         event.record(&mut visitor);
+        if should_drop_event(metadata, visitor.message.as_deref()) {
+            return;
+        }
         let thread_id = visitor
             .thread_id
             .clone()
@@ -415,6 +407,42 @@ async fn flush(state_db: &StateRuntime, buffer: &mut Vec<LogEntry>) {
     let _ = state_db.insert_logs(entries.as_slice()).await;
 }
 
+fn should_drop_event(metadata: &tracing::Metadata<'_>, message: Option<&str>) -> bool {
+    if metadata.target() == "opentelemetry_sdk"
+        && matches!(
+            *metadata.level(),
+            tracing::Level::TRACE | tracing::Level::DEBUG
+        )
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    if metadata.target() == "log"
+        && matches!(
+            *metadata.level(),
+            tracing::Level::TRACE | tracing::Level::DEBUG
+        )
+        && message.is_some_and(is_noisy_file_watcher_log)
+    {
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    false
+}
+
+fn is_noisy_file_watcher_log(message: &str) -> bool {
+    message.starts_with("inotify event:")
+        || message.starts_with("inotify event with unknown descriptor:")
+        || message.starts_with("adding inotify watch")
+        || message.starts_with("removing inotify watch")
+        || message.starts_with("kqueue event:")
+        || message.starts_with("adding kqueue watch")
+        || message.starts_with("removing kqueue watch")
+        || message.starts_with("FSEvent:")
+        || message.starts_with("rescanning ")
+        || message.starts_with("Event: path = ")
+}
+
 #[derive(Default)]
 struct MessageVisitor {
     message: Option<String>,
diff --git a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
index 36ee27aba8a1..19f8d4d11fbd 100644
--- a/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/state/src/log_db_filter_tests.rs
@@ -51,3 +51,52 @@ async fn sqlite_sink_drops_low_level_opentelemetry_sdk_logs() {
 
     let _ = tokio::fs::remove_dir_all(codex_home).await;
 }
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn sqlite_sink_drops_low_level_notify_logs() {
+    let codex_home =
+        std::env::temp_dir().join(format!("codex-state-log-db-filter-{}", Uuid::new_v4()));
+    let runtime = StateRuntime::init(codex_home.clone(), "test-provider".to_string())
+        .await
+        .expect("initialize runtime");
+    let layer = start(runtime.clone());
+
+    let guard = tracing_subscriber::registry()
+        .with(
+            layer
+                .clone()
+                .with_filter(Targets::new().with_default(tracing::Level::TRACE)),
+        )
+        .set_default();
+
+    tracing::trace!(
+        target: "log",
+        "inotify event: Event {{ mask: EventMask(MODIFY), name: Some(\"logs_2.sqlite-wal\") }}"
+    );
+    tracing::trace!(target: "log", "adding inotify watch");
+    tracing::debug!(target: "log", "inotify event with unknown descriptor: Event {{ wd: 1 }}");
+    tracing::trace!(target: "log", "kqueue event: Event {{ ident: 1 }}");
+    tracing::trace!(target: "log", "FSEvent: path = `/tmp/logs_2.sqlite-wal`, flag = ItemModified");
+    tracing::trace!(target: "log", "Event: path = `C:\\tmp\\logs_2.sqlite-wal`, action = Modified");
+    tracing::trace!(target: "log", "retained-third-party-trace");
+
+    layer.flush().await;
+    drop(guard);
+
+    let logs = runtime
+        .query_logs(&crate::LogQuery::default())
+        .await
+        .expect("query logs after flush");
+    assert_eq!(
+        logs.iter()
+            .map(|row| (
+                row.level.as_str(),
+                row.target.as_str(),
+                row.message.as_deref()
+            ))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>(),
+        vec![("TRACE", "log", Some("retained-third-party-trace"))]
+    );
+
+    let _ = tokio::fs::remove_dir_all(codex_home).await;
+}