diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 54992f3..7896ba9 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+unreleased
+==========
+
+- Ignore corrupted packets coming from watchman that occur in semi-random
+  scenarios. See https://github.com/Pylons/hupper/pull/38
+
 1.3 (2018-05-21)
 ================
 
diff --git a/src/hupper/watchman.py b/src/hupper/watchman.py
index 00b923f..743461a 100644
--- a/src/hupper/watchman.py
+++ b/src/hupper/watchman.py
@@ -132,7 +132,11 @@ def _recv(self):
         line = self._readline()
         if not PY2:
             line = line.decode('utf8')
-        return json.loads(line)
+        try:
+            return json.loads(line)
+        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover
+            self.logger.info('ignoring corrupted payload from watchman')
+            return {}
 
     def _send(self, msg):
         cmd = json.dumps(msg)