diff --git a/bug-12236/.dockerignore b/bug-12236/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..30b73440641
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bug-12236/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# ignore everything by default
+*
+# add exceptions here
+!dir1/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bug-12236/Dockerfile b/bug-12236/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dc770dd9f3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bug-12236/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+FROM alpine:latest
+WORKDIR /app
+ENTRYPOINT ["ls", "-la"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bug-12236/compose.yml b/bug-12236/compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2490fb2c995
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bug-12236/compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+services:
+  alpine:
+    build:
+      context: .
+      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+    develop:
+      watch:
+        - action: sync+restart
+          x-initialSync: true
+          path: ./dir1
+          target: /app/dir1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bug-12236/dir1/foo.txt b/bug-12236/dir1/foo.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d
diff --git a/pkg/compose/watch.go b/pkg/compose/watch.go
index 15d2c44c45f..627a57846d1 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/watch.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/watch.go
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ func (s *composeService) initialSync(ctx context.Context, project *types.Project
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-
+	logrus.Debugf("copying %d files for initial sync", len(pathsToCopy))
 	return syncer.Sync(ctx, service, pathsToCopy)
 }
 
@@ -651,6 +651,7 @@ func (s *composeService) initialSyncFiles(ctx context.Context, project *types.Pr
 				return nil
 			}
 			if shouldIgnore(filepath.Base(path), ignore) || checkIfPathAlreadyBindMounted(path, service.Volumes) {
+				logrus.Debugf("ignoring file %s", path)
 				// By definition sync ignores bind mounted paths
 				if d.IsDir() {
 					// skip folder
@@ -665,6 +666,7 @@ func (s *composeService) initialSyncFiles(ctx context.Context, project *types.Pr
 			if !d.IsDir() {
 				if info.ModTime().Before(timeImageCreated) {
 					// skip file if it was modified before image creation
+					logrus.Debugf("skipping file %s; it was modified before image creation", path)
 					return nil
 				}
 				rel, err := filepath.Rel(trigger.Path, path)
diff --git a/pkg/watch/dockerignore.go b/pkg/watch/dockerignore.go
index aea77e80737..bde6b667bd9 100644
--- a/pkg/watch/dockerignore.go
+++ b/pkg/watch/dockerignore.go
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	
 	"github.com/compose-spec/compose-go/v2/types"
 	"github.com/docker/compose/v2/internal/paths"
 	"github.com/moby/patternmatcher"
@@ -83,7 +85,7 @@ func LoadDockerIgnore(build *types.BuildConfig) (*dockerPathMatcher, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer func() { _ = f.Close() }()
-
+	logrus.Debugf("Using .dockerignore file: %s", f.Name())
 	patterns, err := readDockerignorePatterns(f)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err