diff --git a/src/textual/widgets/_directory_tree.py b/src/textual/widgets/_directory_tree.py
index 5879855c8a..efc56d8613 100644
--- a/src/textual/widgets/_directory_tree.py
+++ b/src/textual/widgets/_directory_tree.py
@@ -362,11 +362,12 @@ async def watch_path(self) -> None:
         If the path is changed the directory tree will be repopulated using
         the new value as the root.
         """
+        has_cursor = self.cursor_node is not None
         self.reset_node(self.root, str(self.path), DirEntry(self.PATH(self.path)))
         await self.reload()
-        if self.cursor_node is not None:
+        if has_cursor:
             self.cursor_line = 0
-            self.move_cursor(self.cursor_node, animate=False)
+        self.scroll_to(0, 0, animate=False)
 
     def process_label(self, label: TextType) -> Text:
         """Process a str or Text into a label. May be overridden in a subclass to modify how labels are rendered.
diff --git a/src/textual/widgets/_tree.py b/src/textual/widgets/_tree.py
index 2b0651a9d5..f73dd8515c 100644
--- a/src/textual/widgets/_tree.py
+++ b/src/textual/widgets/_tree.py
@@ -935,17 +935,17 @@ def move_cursor_to_line(self, line: int, animate=False) -> None:
 
         Args:
             line: The line number (negative indexes are offsets from the last line).
-            animate: Enable animation.
+            animate: Enable scrolling animation.
 
         Raises:
             IndexError: If the line doesn't exist.
         """
-        if line < 0:
-            line = len(self._tree_lines) + line
+        if self.cursor_line == line:
+            return
         try:
             node = self._tree_lines[line].node
         except IndexError:
-            raise IndexError("No line no. {line} in the tree")
+            raise IndexError(f"No line no. {line} in the tree")
         self.move_cursor(node, animate=animate)
 
     def select_node(self, node: TreeNode[TreeDataType] | None) -> None: