diff --git a/src/flog.h b/src/flog.h
index 3e7838d65..94c2a236c 100644
--- a/src/flog.h
+++ b/src/flog.h
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ class category_list_t {
     category_t proc_internal_proc{L"proc-internal-proc", L"Internal (non-forked) process events"};
 
     category_t env_locale{L"env-locale", L"Changes to locale variables"};
+
+    category_t topic_monitor{L"topic-monitor", L"Internal details of the topic monitor"};
 };
 
 /// The class responsible for logging.
diff --git a/src/topic_monitor.cpp b/src/topic_monitor.cpp
index a948f75bc..70d05b6a7 100644
--- a/src/topic_monitor.cpp
+++ b/src/topic_monitor.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 #include "config.h"  // IWYU pragma: keep
 
-#include "limits.h"
+#include "flog.h"
+#include "iothread.h"
 #include "topic_monitor.h"
 #include "wutil.h"
 
+#include <limits.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 // Whoof. Thread Sanitizer swallows signals and replays them at its leisure, at the point where
@@ -69,13 +71,44 @@ void topic_monitor_t::post(topic_t topic) {
     // Ignore EAGAIN and other errors (which conceivably could occur during shutdown).
 }
 
+generation_list_t topic_monitor_t::updated_gens() {
+    auto current_gens = current_gen_.acquire();
+
+    // Atomically acquire the pending updates, swapping in 0.
+    // If there are no pending updates (likely), just return.
+    // Otherwise CAS in 0 and update our topics.
+    const auto relaxed = std::memory_order_relaxed;
+    topic_set_raw_t raw;
+    bool cas_success;
+    do {
+        raw = pending_updates_.load(relaxed);
+        if (raw == 0) return *current_gens;
+        cas_success = pending_updates_.compare_exchange_weak(raw, 0, relaxed, relaxed);
+    } while (!cas_success);
+
+    // Update the current generation with our topics and return it.
+    auto topics = topic_set_t::from_raw(raw);
+    for (topic_t topic : topic_iter_t{}) {
+        if (topics.get(topic)) {
+            current_gens->at(topic) += 1;
+            FLOG(topic_monitor, "Updating topic", (int)topic, "to", current_gens->at(topic));
+        }
+    }
+    return *current_gens;
+}
+
 void topic_monitor_t::await_metagen(generation_t mgen) {
     // Fast check of the metagen before taking the lock. If it's changed we're done.
-    if (mgen != current_metagen()) return;
+    generation_t current = current_metagen();
+    FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen, ": current", current);
+    if (mgen != current) return;
 
     // Take the lock (which may take a long time) and then check again.
     std::unique_lock<std::mutex> locker{wait_queue_lock_};
-    if (mgen != current_metagen()) return;
+    current = current_metagen();
+    FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen, ": current", current,
+         "acquired lock");
+    if (mgen != current) return;
 
     // Our metagen hasn't changed. Push our metagen onto the queue, then wait until we're the
     // lowest. If multiple waiters are the lowest, then anyone can be the observer.
@@ -84,6 +117,8 @@ void topic_monitor_t::await_metagen(generation_t mgen) {
     // (who has already seen the changes).
     wait_queue_.push(mgen);
     while (wait_queue_.top() != mgen) {
+        FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen, "releasing lock for",
+             wait_queue_.top());
         wait_queue_notifier_.wait(locker);
     }
     wait_queue_.pop();
@@ -91,7 +126,10 @@ void topic_monitor_t::await_metagen(generation_t mgen) {
     // We now have the lowest metagen in the wait queue. Notice we still hold the lock.
     // Read until the metagen changes. It may already have changed.
     // Note because changes are coalesced, we can read a lot, potentially draining the pipe.
-    while (mgen == current_metagen()) {
+    current = current_metagen();
+    FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen, "considering waiting for mgen",
+         current);
+    while (mgen == current) {
         int fd = pipes_.read.fd();
 #if TOPIC_MONITOR_TSAN_WORKAROUND
         // Under tsan our notifying pipe is non-blocking, so we would busy-loop on the read() call
@@ -104,9 +142,13 @@ void topic_monitor_t::await_metagen(generation_t mgen) {
 #endif
         uint8_t ignored[PIPE_BUF];
         (void)read(fd, ignored, sizeof ignored);
+        current = current_metagen();
+        FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen,
+             "read() complete, current mgen is", current);
     }
 
     // Release the lock and wake up the remaining waiters.
+    FLOG(topic_monitor, "TID", thread_id(), "local mgen", mgen, "awakening all waiters");
     locker.unlock();
     wait_queue_notifier_.notify_all();
 }
diff --git a/src/topic_monitor.h b/src/topic_monitor.h
index 78498c4cc..574e72c21 100644
--- a/src/topic_monitor.h
+++ b/src/topic_monitor.h
@@ -109,28 +109,7 @@ class topic_monitor_t {
     void await_metagen(generation_t gen);
 
     /// Return the current generation list, opportunistically applying any pending updates.
-    generation_list_t updated_gens() {
-        auto current_gens = current_gen_.acquire();
-
-        // Atomically acquire the pending updates, swapping in 0.
-        // If there are no pending updates (likely), just return.
-        // Otherwise CAS in 0 and update our topics.
-        const auto relaxed = std::memory_order_relaxed;
-        topic_set_raw_t raw;
-        bool cas_success;
-        do {
-            raw = pending_updates_.load(relaxed);
-            if (raw == 0) return *current_gens;
-            cas_success = pending_updates_.compare_exchange_weak(raw, 0, relaxed, relaxed);
-        } while (!cas_success);
-
-        // Update the current generation with our topics and return it.
-        auto topics = topic_set_t::from_raw(raw);
-        for (topic_t topic : topic_iter_t{}) {
-            current_gens->at(topic) += topics.get(topic) ? 1 : 0;
-        }
-        return *current_gens;
-    }
+    generation_list_t updated_gens();
 
     /// \return the metagen for the current topic generation list.
     inline generation_t current_metagen() { return metagen_for(updated_gens()); }