diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/fd.h b/headers/private/kernel/fd.h
index f0a47295f6..3a38fffde4 100644
--- a/headers/private/kernel/fd.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/fd.h
@@ -10,22 +10,9 @@
 #include <atomic.h>
 #include <memheap.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+//#include <list.h>
 
 
-struct file_descriptor;
-struct select_sync;
-struct fs_mount;
-struct vnode;
-
-/** The I/O context of a process/team, holds the fd array */
-struct io_context {
-	struct vnode *cwd;
-	mutex	io_mutex;
-	int		table_size;
-	int		num_used_fds;
-	struct file_descriptor **fds;
-};
-
 struct fd_ops {
 	ssize_t		(*fd_read) (struct file_descriptor *, off_t pos, void *buffer, size_t *length);
 	ssize_t		(*fd_write)(struct file_descriptor *, off_t pos, const void *buffer, size_t *length);
diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/fs/node_monitor.h b/headers/private/kernel/fs/node_monitor.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ea14307db0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/fs/node_monitor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#ifndef _KERNEL_NODE_MONITOR_H
+#define _KERNEL_NODE_MONITOR_H
+/*
+** Copyright 2003, Axel Dörfler, axeld@pinc-software.de. All rights reserved.
+** Distributed under the terms of the OpenBeOS License.
+*/
+
+
+#include <OS.h>
+
+
+struct io_context;
+
+// private kernel API
+extern status_t remove_node_monitors(struct io_context *context);
+extern status_t node_monitor_init(void);
+
+// user-space exported calls
+extern status_t user_stop_notifying(port_id port, uint32 token);
+extern status_t user_start_watching(dev_t device, ino_t node, uint32 flags,
+					port_id port, uint32 token);
+extern status_t user_stop_watching(dev_t device, ino_t node, uint32 flags,
+					port_id port, uint32 token);
+
+#endif	/* _KRENEL_NODE_MONITOR_H */
diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/ksyscalls.h b/headers/private/kernel/ksyscalls.h
index 222d4bf7eb..071389bb98 100755
--- a/headers/private/kernel/ksyscalls.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/ksyscalls.h
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ enum {
 	SYSCALL_UNREGISTER_IMAGE,		/* 115 */
 	SYSCALL_GET_IMAGE_INFO,
 	SYSCALL_GET_NEXT_IMAGE_INFO,
+	SYSCALL_START_WATCHING,
+	SYSCALL_STOP_WATCHING,
+	SYSCALL_STOP_NOTIFYING,			/* 120 */
 };
 
 int syscall_dispatcher(unsigned long call_num, void *arg_buffer, uint64 *call_ret);
diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/syscalls.h b/headers/private/kernel/syscalls.h
index f44a78d9b3..66896d670f 100644
--- a/headers/private/kernel/syscalls.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/syscalls.h
@@ -70,6 +70,13 @@ status_t sys_unregister_image(image_id id);
 status_t sys_get_image_info(image_id id, image_info *info, size_t size);
 status_t sys_get_next_image_info(team_id team, int32 *cookie, image_info *info, size_t size);
 
+// node monitor functions
+status_t sys_stop_notifying(port_id port, uint32 token);
+status_t sys_start_watching(dev_t device, ino_t node, uint32 flags,
+			port_id port, uint32 token);
+status_t sys_stop_watching(dev_t device, ino_t node, uint32 flags,
+			port_id port, uint32 token);
+
 // area functions
 region_id sys_vm_create_anonymous_region(const char *name, void **address, int addr_type,
 	addr size, int wiring, int lock);
diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/vfs.h b/headers/private/kernel/vfs.h
index fc4d94ab13..261577c273 100755
--- a/headers/private/kernel/vfs.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/vfs.h
@@ -13,19 +13,39 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fs_interface.h>
+#include <lock.h>
+#include <list.h>
 
 #define DEFAULT_FD_TABLE_SIZE	128
 #define MAX_FD_TABLE_SIZE		2048
+#define MAX_NODE_MONITORS		4096
 
 #include <vfs_types.h>
 
+
+struct file_descriptor;
+struct selectsync;
+struct pollfd;
+
+
+/** The I/O context of a process/team, holds the fd array among others */
+typedef struct io_context {
+	struct vnode *cwd;
+	mutex		io_mutex;
+	uint32		table_size;
+	uint32		num_used_fds;
+	struct file_descriptor **fds;
+	struct list node_monitors;
+	uint32		num_monitors;
+	uint32		max_monitors;
+} io_context;
+
+
 /* macro to allocate a iovec array on the stack */
 #define IOVECS(name, size) \
 	uint8 _##name[sizeof(iovecs) + (size)*sizeof(iovec)]; \
 	iovecs *name = (iovecs *)_##name
 
-struct selectsync;
-struct pollfd;
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {