diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 648d914..3e5e61e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,12 @@ try inotify.addWatch(path: "/tmp/watched", mask: [.create, .modify])
 
 // Consume events as they arrive
 for await event in await inotify.events {
-    print("Event at \(event.path): \(event.mask)")
+    switch event {
+    case .fileSystem(let change):
+        print("Event at \(change.path): \(change.mask)")
+    case .queueOverflow:
+        print("The kernel dropped events; rescan if you must not miss changes.")
+    }
 }
 ```
 
@@ -125,9 +130,9 @@ Convenience combinations: `.move` (`.movedFrom` + `.movedTo`), `.close` (`.close
 
 Watch flags: `.dontFollow`, `.onlyDir`, `.oneShot`.
 
-Kernel-only flags returned in events: `.isDir`, `.ignored`, `.queueOverflow`, `.unmount`.
+Kernel-only flags returned in events: `.isDir`, `.ignored`, `.unmount`.
 
-When the kernel queue overflows, events are lost and a single event with `.queueOverflow` is delivered instead. It has no path and a watch descriptor of `-1`; rescan the watched directories if you must not miss changes.
+When the kernel queue overflows, events are lost and `InotifyEvent.queueOverflow` is delivered instead of a file system event; rescan the watched directories if you must not miss changes.
 
 ## Removing a Watch
 
diff --git a/Sources/Inotify/FileSystemEvent.swift b/Sources/Inotify/FileSystemEvent.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..332fd3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/Inotify/FileSystemEvent.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import SystemPackage
+
+/// A change to a watched file or directory, as delivered by an ``Inotify``
+/// instance inside ``InotifyEvent/fileSystem(_:)``.
+public struct FileSystemEvent: Sendable, Hashable, CustomStringConvertible {
+	public let watchDescriptor: Int32
+	public let mask: InotifyEventMask
+	public let cookie: UInt32
+	public let path: FilePath
+	/// Whether the event was produced by the library for an item that already
+	/// existed when its directory became watched, rather than by the kernel.
+	public let synthesized: Bool
+
+	public var description: String {
+		var parts = ["FileSystemEvent(wd: \(watchDescriptor), mask: \(mask), path: \"\(path)\""]
+		if cookie != 0 { parts.append("cookie: \(cookie)") }
+		return parts.joined(separator: ", ") + ")"
+	}
+}
+
+extension FileSystemEvent {
+	public init(from rawEvent: RawInotifyEvent, inDirectory path: String) {
+		let dirPath = FilePath(path)
+		self.init(
+			watchDescriptor: rawEvent.watchDescriptor,
+			mask: rawEvent.mask,
+			cookie: rawEvent.cookie,
+			path: dirPath.appending(rawEvent.name),
+			synthesized: rawEvent.synthesized
+		)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/Inotify.md b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/Inotify.md
index 3fe58b5..0d8c44a 100644
--- a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/Inotify.md
+++ b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/Inotify.md
@@ -4,14 +4,19 @@ Monitor filesystem events on Linux using modern Swift concurrency.
 
 ## Overview
 
-The Inotify library wraps the Linux [inotify](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/inotify.7.html) API in a Swift-native interface built around actors and async sequences. You create an ``Inotify/Inotify`` actor, add watches for the paths you care about, and iterate over the ``Inotify/Inotify/events`` property to receive ``InotifyEvent`` values as they occur.
+The Inotify library wraps the Linux [inotify](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/inotify.7.html) API in a Swift-native interface built around actors and async sequences. You create an ``Inotify/Inotify`` actor, add watches for the paths you care about, and iterate over the ``Inotify/Inotify/events`` property to receive ``InotifyEvent`` values as they occur. Most of them carry a ``FileSystemEvent`` describing a change to a watched item; the others tell you when the instance cannot deliver every change, such as after a kernel queue overflow.
 
 ```swift
 let inotify = try Inotify()
 try inotify.addWatch(path: "/tmp/inbox", mask: [.create, .modify])
 
 for await event in await inotify.events {
-    print("\(event.mask) at \(event.path)")
+    switch event {
+    case .fileSystem(let change):
+        print("\(change.mask) at \(change.path)")
+    case .queueOverflow:
+        print("events were dropped, rescan")
+    }
 }
 ```
 
@@ -30,6 +35,7 @@ All public types conform to `Sendable`, so they can be safely passed across conc
 
 - ``Inotify/Inotify``
 - ``InotifyEvent``
+- ``FileSystemEvent``
 - ``InotifyEventMask``
 
 ### Articles
diff --git a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/WatchingDirectoryTrees.md b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/WatchingDirectoryTrees.md
index 76cc1d7..40b5451 100644
--- a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/WatchingDirectoryTrees.md
+++ b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.docc/WatchingDirectoryTrees.md
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ let descriptors = try await inotify.addWatchWithAutomaticSubtreeWatching(
 )
 ```
 
-Internally this listens for `CREATE` and `MOVED_TO` events carrying the ``InotifyEventMask/isDir`` flag and installs new watches with the same mask on the subdirectory and its subtree whenever one appears. Items that already exist inside such a subdirectory are reported with ``InotifyEvent/synthesized`` set to `true`, since the kernel never produces events for them; a synthesized event may duplicate a kernel event for the same item.
+Internally this listens for `CREATE` and `MOVED_TO` events carrying the ``InotifyEventMask/isDir`` flag and installs new watches with the same mask on the subdirectory and its subtree whenever one appears. Items that already exist inside such a subdirectory are reported with ``FileSystemEvent/synthesized`` set to `true`, since the kernel never produces events for them; a synthesized event may duplicate a kernel event for the same item.
 
 When a directory is moved out of the watched tree, the watches on it and on its subdirectories are removed, so no events are reported under the stale path.
 
diff --git a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.swift b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.swift
index 768b703..5f17c93 100644
--- a/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.swift
+++ b/Sources/Inotify/Inotify.swift
@@ -119,22 +119,22 @@ public actor Inotify {
 
 	private func transform(_ rawEvent: RawInotifyEvent) async -> InotifyEvent? {
 		if rawEvent.mask.contains(.queueOverflow) {
-			return InotifyEvent(from: rawEvent, inDirectory: "")
+			return .queueOverflow
 		}
 		guard let path = self.watches.path(forId: rawEvent.watchDescriptor) else { return nil }
 		guard !self.exclusions.excludes(rawEvent.name) else { return nil }
-		let event = InotifyEvent.init(from: rawEvent, inDirectory: path)
+		let event = FileSystemEvent(from: rawEvent, inDirectory: path)
 		self.forgetWatchInCaseTheKernelRemovedIt(event)
 		self.removeWatchesInCaseADirectoryLeftTheTree(event)
 		await self.addWatchInCaseOfAutomaticSubtreeWatching(event)
-		return event
+		return .fileSystem(event)
 	}
 
 	/// The kernel reports `IN_IGNORED` once a watch is gone, whether it was
 	/// removed explicitly or because its item was deleted or unmounted.
 	/// Forgetting it keeps a reused descriptor number from mapping to a
 	/// stale path.
-	private func forgetWatchInCaseTheKernelRemovedIt(_ event: InotifyEvent) {
+	private func forgetWatchInCaseTheKernelRemovedIt(_ event: FileSystemEvent) {
 		guard event.mask.contains(.ignored) else { return }
 		self.watches.remove(forId: event.watchDescriptor)
 	}
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public actor Inotify {
 	/// A directory moved out of a watched tree keeps its kernel watches,
 	/// which would then report events under the old path. Those watches
 	/// are removed instead.
-	private func removeWatchesInCaseADirectoryLeftTheTree(_ event: InotifyEvent) {
+	private func removeWatchesInCaseADirectoryLeftTheTree(_ event: FileSystemEvent) {
 		guard event.mask.contains(.movedFrom), event.mask.contains(.isDir) else { return }
 		for wd in self.watches.descriptors(under: event.path.string) {
 			inotify_rm_watch(self.fd, wd)
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ public actor Inotify {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private func addWatchInCaseOfAutomaticSubtreeWatching(_ event: InotifyEvent) async {
+	private func addWatchInCaseOfAutomaticSubtreeWatching(_ event: FileSystemEvent) async {
 		guard !event.synthesized,
 			  watches.isAutomaticSubtreeWatching(event.watchDescriptor),
 			  event.mask.contains(.isDir),
diff --git a/Sources/Inotify/InotifyEvent.swift b/Sources/Inotify/InotifyEvent.swift
index d81936a..da5eec2 100644
--- a/Sources/Inotify/InotifyEvent.swift
+++ b/Sources/Inotify/InotifyEvent.swift
@@ -1,37 +1,9 @@
-import SystemPackage
-
-/// A filesystem event delivered by an ``Inotify`` instance.
-///
-/// When the kernel's event queue overflows, it drops events and reports a
-/// single event whose ``mask`` contains ``InotifyEventMask/queueOverflow``.
-/// Such an event belongs to no watch: its ``watchDescriptor`` is `-1` and
-/// its ``path`` is empty. Consumers that must not miss changes should
-/// rescan the watched trees when they receive one.
-public struct InotifyEvent: Sendable, Hashable, CustomStringConvertible {
-	public let watchDescriptor: Int32
-	public let mask: InotifyEventMask
-	public let cookie: UInt32
-	public let path: FilePath
-	/// Whether the event was produced by the library for an item that already
-	/// existed when its directory became watched, rather than by the kernel.
-	public let synthesized: Bool
-
-	public var description: String {
-		var parts = ["InotifyEvent(wd: \(watchDescriptor), mask: \(mask), path: \"\(path)\""]
-		if cookie != 0 { parts.append("cookie: \(cookie)") }
-		return parts.joined(separator: ", ") + ")"
-	}
-}
-
-extension InotifyEvent {
-	public init(from rawEvent: RawInotifyEvent, inDirectory path: String) {
-		let dirPath = FilePath(path)
-		self.init(
-			watchDescriptor: rawEvent.watchDescriptor,
-			mask: rawEvent.mask,
-			cookie: rawEvent.cookie,
-			path: dirPath.appending(rawEvent.name),
-			synthesized: rawEvent.synthesized
-		)
-	}
+/// What an ``Inotify`` instance delivers: a change to a watched item, or a
+/// condition that affects which changes it can deliver.
+public enum InotifyEvent: Sendable, Hashable {
+	/// A change to a watched file or directory.
+	case fileSystem(FileSystemEvent)
+	/// The kernel's event queue was full, so it dropped events. Consumers
+	/// that must not miss changes should rescan the watched trees.
+	case queueOverflow
 }
diff --git a/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/InotifyLimitTests.swift b/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/InotifyLimitTests.swift
index 213f104..c490cea 100644
--- a/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/InotifyLimitTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/InotifyLimitTests.swift
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ struct InotifyLimitTests {
 					var received = 0
 					for await event in await watcher.events {
 						received += 1
-						if event.mask.contains(.queueOverflow) { return (event, received) }
+						if case .queueOverflow = event { return (event, received) }
 					}
 					return (nil, received)
 				}
@@ -65,9 +65,7 @@ struct InotifyLimitTests {
 				overflowTask.cancel()
 				let (overflow, received) = await overflowTask.value
 
-				#expect(overflow != nil, "Expected a queue overflow event after \(index) file creations and \(received) received events")
-				#expect(overflow?.watchDescriptor == -1)
-				#expect(overflow?.path == "")
+				#expect(overflow == .queueOverflow, "Expected a queue overflow event after \(index) file creations and \(received) received events")
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/Utilities/getEventsForTrigger.swift b/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/Utilities/getEventsForTrigger.swift
index 424443b..fb15c45 100644
--- a/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/Utilities/getEventsForTrigger.swift
+++ b/Tests/InotifyIntegrationTests/Utilities/getEventsForTrigger.swift
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ enum RecursivKind {
 	case withAutomaticSubtreeWatching
 }
 
+/// The file system events an instance delivers around `trigger`.
 func getEventsForTrigger(
 	in dir: String,
 	mask: InotifyEventMask,
@@ -13,6 +14,27 @@ func getEventsForTrigger(
 	exclude: [String] = [],
 	excludePatterns: [String] = [],
 	trigger: @escaping (String) async throws -> Void,
+) async throws -> [FileSystemEvent] {
+	let events = try await getInotifyEventsForTrigger(
+		in: dir,
+		mask: mask,
+		recursive: recursive,
+		exclude: exclude,
+		excludePatterns: excludePatterns,
+		trigger: trigger
+	)
+	return events.compactMap(\.fileSystemEvent)
+}
+
+/// Everything an instance delivers around `trigger`, including the
+/// events that are not about a file system item.
+func getInotifyEventsForTrigger(
+	in dir: String,
+	mask: InotifyEventMask,
+	recursive: RecursivKind = .nonrecursive,
+	exclude: [String] = [],
+	excludePatterns: [String] = [],
+	trigger: @escaping (String) async throws -> Void,
 ) async throws -> [InotifyEvent] {
 	let watcher = try Inotify()
 	await watcher.exclude(names: exclude)
@@ -41,3 +63,10 @@ func getEventsForTrigger(
 	eventTask.cancel()
 	return await eventTask.value
 }
+
+extension InotifyEvent {
+	var fileSystemEvent: FileSystemEvent? {
+		if case .fileSystem(let event) = self { return event }
+		return nil
+	}
+}