diff --git a/run.sh b/run.sh
index 868d338..d1cae51 100755
--- a/run.sh
+++ b/run.sh
@@ -14,15 +14,34 @@ reload_crond() {
 watch_config() {
   local file="$1"
   if command -v inotifywait >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    inotifywait -m -e close_write,move,delete "$file" |
-      while read -r _; do
-        generate_cron
-        reload_crond
+    local dir="$(dirname "$file")"
+    local base="$(basename "$file")"
+    inotifywait -m -e close_write,move,create,delete "$dir" --format '%e %f' |
+      while read -r events fname; do
+        [ "$fname" = "$base" ] || continue
+        if echo "$events" | grep -qE 'DELETE|MOVED_FROM'; then
+          echo "Warning: configuration file '$file' missing, skipping cron generation" >&2
+        elif [ -f "$file" ]; then
+          generate_cron
+          reload_crond
+        fi
       done || true
   else
     local prev
-    prev="$(md5sum "$file" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}' || true)"
+    if [ -f "$file" ]; then
+      prev="$(md5sum "$file" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}' || true)"
+    else
+      prev="missing"
+      echo "Warning: configuration file '$file' missing, skipping cron generation" >&2
+    fi
     while sleep 5; do
+      if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then
+        if [ "$prev" != "missing" ]; then
+          prev="missing"
+          echo "Warning: configuration file '$file' missing, skipping cron generation" >&2
+        fi
+        continue
+      fi
       local curr
       curr="$(md5sum "$file" 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $1}' || true)"
       if [ "$curr" != "$prev" ]; then
@@ -35,7 +54,15 @@ watch_config() {
 }
 
 # Generate cron entries from environment/config
-generate_cron
+if [ -n "${CONFIG_FILE:-}" ]; then
+  if [ -f "$CONFIG_FILE" ]; then
+    generate_cron
+  else
+    echo "Warning: configuration file '$CONFIG_FILE' missing, skipping cron generation" >&2
+  fi
+else
+  generate_cron
+fi
 
 crond -f -l 2 &
 CROND_PID=$!
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
index 772d64b..9a3a7fe 100755
--- a/test.sh
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -1,31 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-IMAGE_NAME=docker-cron-test
-LOG_FILE=test.log
-TEMP_CONFIG=config.json
+bash tests/config_parser_test.sh
+bash tests/watch_config_test.sh
 
-cleanup() {
-  rm -f "$TEMP_CONFIG" "$LOG_FILE"
-}
-trap cleanup EXIT
-
-# Build docker image
- docker build -t "$IMAGE_NAME" .
-
-# Create temporary config file
-cat > "$TEMP_CONFIG" <<'CFG'
-{
-  "jobs": [
-    {"cmd": "echo hello from cron", "interval": "* * * * *"}
-  ]
-}
-CFG
-
-# Run config parser inside container and display generated crontab
- docker run --rm -v "$(pwd)/$TEMP_CONFIG:/config.json" -e CONFIG_FILE=/config.json --entrypoint /bin/sh "$IMAGE_NAME" -c '/app/config_parser.sh; cat /etc/crontabs/root' | tee "$LOG_FILE"
-
-# Verify expected command is present in log
-grep -q "echo hello from cron" "$LOG_FILE"
-
-echo "Test completed successfully"
+echo "All tests passed"
diff --git a/tests/watch_config_test.sh b/tests/watch_config_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..a4162e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/watch_config_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Ensure crond is available
+if ! command -v crond >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    apt-get update >/dev/null
+    apt-get install -y busybox >/dev/null
+    ln -sf /bin/busybox /usr/bin/crond
+  else
+    echo "crond not available, skipping watch_config test" >&2
+    exit 0
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Ensure config parser is accessible at /app
+if [ ! -e /app ]; then
+  ln -s "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)/app" /app
+fi
+
+# busybox crond expects /var/spool/cron/crontabs; map it to /etc/crontabs
+if [ ! -e /var/spool/cron/crontabs ]; then
+  mkdir -p /var/spool/cron
+  mkdir -p /etc/crontabs
+  ln -s /etc/crontabs /var/spool/cron/crontabs
+fi
+
+TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+CONFIG="$TMPDIR/config.json"
+LOG="$TMPDIR/run.log"
+RUN_PID=0
+
+cleanup() {
+  if [ "$RUN_PID" -ne 0 ]; then
+    pkill -P "$RUN_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    kill "$RUN_PID" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  fi
+  rm -rf "$TMPDIR"
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+cat >"$CONFIG" <<'CFG'
+{
+  "jobs": [
+    {"cmd": "/bin/echo first", "interval": "* * * * *"}
+  ]
+}
+CFG
+
+CONFIG_FILE="$CONFIG" bash ./run.sh >"$LOG" 2>&1 &
+RUN_PID=$!
+
+# Allow initial generation
+sleep 2
+
+grep -q "echo first" /etc/crontabs/root
+
+# Remove config file and ensure watcher keeps running
+rm "$CONFIG"
+
+sleep 7
+
+kill -0 "$RUN_PID"
+
+grep -q "configuration file.*missing" "$LOG"
+
+# Recreate config file with different command
+cat >"$CONFIG" <<'CFG'
+{
+  "jobs": [
+    {"cmd": "/bin/echo second", "interval": "* * * * *"}
+  ]
+}
+CFG
+
+sleep 7
+
+grep -q "echo second" /etc/crontabs/root
+
+echo "watch_config test passed"