diff --git a/src/lay/lay/laySaltController.cc b/src/lay/lay/laySaltController.cc
index efd85a58e..51b53ae66 100644
--- a/src/lay/lay/laySaltController.cc
+++ b/src/lay/lay/laySaltController.cc
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ SaltController::show_editor ()
     {
       //  while running the dialog, don't watch file events - that would interfere with
       //  the changes applied by the dialog itself.
-      lay::BusySection busy_section;  //  disable file watcher
+      tl::FileSystemWatcherDisabled disable_file_watcher;  //  disable file watcher
       mp_salt_dialog->exec ();
     }
 
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ SaltController::show_editor ()
 void
 SaltController::sync_file_watcher ()
 {
-  lay::BusySection busy_section;  //  disable file watcher
+  tl::FileSystemWatcherDisabled disable_file_watcher;  //  disable file watcher
 
   if (m_file_watcher) {
     m_file_watcher->clear ();
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ SaltController::install_packages (const std::vector<std::string> &packages, bool
   {
     //  while running the dialog, don't watch file events - that would interfere with
     //  the changes applied by the dialog itself.
-    lay::BusySection busy_section;  //  disable file watcher
+    tl::FileSystemWatcherDisabled disable_file_watcher;  //  disable file watcher
     result = manager.execute (0, m_salt);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlFileSystemWatcher.h b/src/tl/tl/tlFileSystemWatcher.h
index f6190f208..d7435c261 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlFileSystemWatcher.h
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlFileSystemWatcher.h
@@ -140,6 +140,23 @@ private:
   std::map<std::string, FileEntry>::iterator m_iter;
 };
 
+/**
+ *  @brief A class employing RIIA for locking the file system watcher
+ */
+class TL_PUBLIC FileSystemWatcherDisabled
+{
+public:
+  FileSystemWatcherDisabled ()
+  {
+    tl::FileSystemWatcher::global_enable (false);
+  }
+
+  ~FileSystemWatcherDisabled ()
+  {
+    tl::FileSystemWatcher::global_enable (true);
+  }
+};
+
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/tl/tl/tlGit.cc b/src/tl/tl/tlGit.cc
index d1e100cad..2c8ee8b6a 100644
--- a/src/tl/tl/tlGit.cc
+++ b/src/tl/tl/tlGit.cc
@@ -116,7 +116,11 @@ fetch_progress (const git_transfer_progress *stats, void *payload)
 
   //  first half of progress
   size_t count = size_t (5000.0 * double (stats->received_objects) / double (std::max (1u, stats->total_objects)) + 1e-10);
-  progress->set (count);
+  try {
+    progress->set (count);
+  } catch (...) {
+    //  TODO: stop
+  }
 
   return 0;
 }
@@ -128,7 +132,11 @@ checkout_progress(const char * /*path*/, size_t cur, size_t tot, void *payload)
 
   //  first half of progress
   size_t count = size_t (5000.0 * double (cur) / double (std::max (size_t (1), tot)) + 1e-10);
-  progress->set (count + 5000u);
+  try {
+    progress->set (count + 5000u);
+  } catch (...) {
+    //  ignore cancel requests (TODO: how to stop?)
+  }
 }
 
 static void check (int error)