diff --git a/packages/relay-compiler/bin/RelayCompilerMain.js b/packages/relay-compiler/bin/RelayCompilerMain.js
index 16d55282e83ce..85775c210319b 100644
--- a/packages/relay-compiler/bin/RelayCompilerMain.js
+++ b/packages/relay-compiler/bin/RelayCompilerMain.js
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@ Ensure that one such file exists in ${srcDir} or its parents.
     verbose: options.verbose,
     quiet: options.quiet,
   });
-
   const useWatchman = options.watchman && (await WatchmanClient.isAvailable());
 
   const schema = getSchema(schemaPath);
@@ -270,7 +269,7 @@ Ensure that one such file exists in ${srcDir} or its parents.
     // TODO: allow passing in a flag or detect?
     sourceControl: null,
   });
-  if (!options.validate && !options.watch && options.watchman) {
+  if (!options.validate && !options.watch && useWatchman) {
     // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
     console.log('HINT: pass --watch to keep watching for changes.');
   }
diff --git a/packages/relay-compiler/core/GraphQLWatchmanClient.js b/packages/relay-compiler/core/GraphQLWatchmanClient.js
index 58d0f640ba208..81a6a16533bf2 100644
--- a/packages/relay-compiler/core/GraphQLWatchmanClient.js
+++ b/packages/relay-compiler/core/GraphQLWatchmanClient.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  */
 'use strict';
 
+const childProcess = require('child_process');
 const watchman = require('fb-watchman');
 
 const MAX_ATTEMPT_LIMIT = 5;
@@ -24,21 +25,18 @@ class GraphQLWatchmanClient {
 
   static isAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
     return new Promise(resolve => {
-      const client = new GraphQLWatchmanClient(MAX_ATTEMPT_LIMIT);
-      client.on('error', () => {
+      // This command not only will verify that watchman CLI is available
+      // More than that `watchman version` is a command that runs on the server.
+      // And it can tell us that watchman is up and running
+      // Also `watchman version` check ``relative_root`` capability
+      // under the covers
+      const proc = childProcess.spawn('watchman', ['version']);
+      proc.on('error', () => {
         resolve(false);
-        client.end();
       });
-      client.hasCapability('relative_root').then(
-        hasRelativeRoot => {
-          resolve(hasRelativeRoot);
-          client.end();
-        },
-        () => {
-          resolve(false);
-          client.end();
-        },
-      );
+      proc.on('close', code => {
+        resolve(code === 0);
+      });
     });
   }