diff --git a/.changeset/hungry-ties-press.md b/.changeset/hungry-ties-press.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6693ba7580d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/hungry-ties-press.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@graphql-codegen/cli': patch
+---
+
+Fix watcher watching project root when schema URL is used
diff --git a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/helpers.ts b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/helpers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d73f7a2983a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/helpers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function isURL(str: string): boolean {
+  try {
+    const url = new URL(str);
+    return !!url;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/patterns.ts b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/patterns.ts
index f35280b7817..b584a3af58a 100644
--- a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/patterns.ts
+++ b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/utils/patterns.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { normalizeInstanceOrArray, Types } from '@graphql-codegen/plugin-helpers
 import isGlob from 'is-glob';
 import mm from 'micromatch';
 import { CodegenContext } from '../config.js';
+import { isURL } from './helpers.js';
 
 type NegatedPattern = `!${string}`;
 
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ const makePatternsFromSchemas = (schemas: Types.Schema[]): string[] => {
 
   for (const s of schemas) {
     const schema = s as string;
-    if (isGlob(schema) || isValidPath(schema)) {
+    if (!isURL(schema) && (isGlob(schema) || isValidPath(schema))) {
       patterns.push(schema);
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/tests/watcher.spec.ts b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/tests/watcher.spec.ts
index 565f086623a..6d690042ddb 100644
--- a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/tests/watcher.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/tests/watcher.spec.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,23 @@ describe('Watch targets', () => {
     await stopWatching();
   });
 
+  test('ignores schema URLs when detecting common prefix directory', async () => {
+    const { stopWatching, watchDirectory } = await setupMockWatcher({
+      filepath: './foo/some-config.ts',
+      config: {
+        schema: 'http://localhost/graphql',
+        generates: {
+          ['./foo/some-output.ts']: {
+            documents: ['./foo/bar/*.graphql'],
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(watchDirectory).toBe(join(process.cwd(), 'foo'));
+    await stopWatching();
+  });
+
   test('watches process.cwd() when longest common prefix directory is not accessible', async () => {
     setupMockFilesystem({
       access: async path => {