diff --git a/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.test.ts b/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.test.ts
index c045286e2c..e55695c29c 100644
--- a/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.test.ts
+++ b/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only OR LicenseRef-Element-Commercial
 Please see LICENSE files in the repository root for full details.
 */
 
-import { expect, test, vitest } from "vitest";
+import { expect, test, vi, vitest } from "vitest";
 
 import { Watchable } from "./watchable";
 
@@ -56,3 +56,44 @@ test("when value is an object, shallow comparison works", () => {
 
     watchable.unwatch(listener); // Clean up after the test
 });
+
+test("onFirstWatch and onLastWatch are called when appropriate", () => {
+    const onFirstWatch = vi.fn();
+    const onLastWatch = vi.fn();
+    class CustomWatchable extends Watchable<number> {
+        protected onFirstWatch(): void {
+            onFirstWatch();
+        }
+        protected onLastWatch(): void {
+            onLastWatch();
+        }
+    }
+
+    const watchable = new CustomWatchable(10);
+    // No listeners yet, so expect no calls
+    expect(onFirstWatch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(onLastWatch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    // Let's say that we have three listeners
+    const listeners = [vi.fn(), vi.fn(), vi.fn()];
+
+    // Let's add all of them via watch
+    for (const listener of listeners) {
+        watchable.watch(listener);
+    }
+
+    // Only expect onFirstWatch() to have been called once
+    expect(onFirstWatch).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+
+    // Let's remove all the listeners
+    for (const listener of listeners) {
+        watchable.unwatch(listener);
+    }
+
+    // Only expect onLastWatch to have been called once
+    expect(onLastWatch).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+
+    // Should call onFirstWatch again once we have more listeners
+    watchable.watch(vi.fn());
+    expect(onFirstWatch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+});
diff --git a/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.ts b/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.ts
index 3fda595d2c..69296571c8 100644
--- a/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.ts
+++ b/packages/element-web-module-api/src/api/watchable.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ export class Watchable<T> {
 
     public constructor(private currentValue: T) {}
 
+    /**
+     * The value stored in this watchable.
+     * Warning: Could potentially return stale data if you haven't called {@link Watchable#watch}.
+     */
     public get value(): T {
         return this.currentValue;
     }
@@ -50,12 +54,32 @@ export class Watchable<T> {
     }
 
     public watch(listener: (value: T) => void): void {
+        // Call onFirstWatch if there was no listener before.
+        if (this.listeners.size === 0) {
+            this.onFirstWatch();
+        }
         this.listeners.add(listener);
     }
 
     public unwatch(listener: (value: T) => void): void {
-        this.listeners.delete(listener);
+        const hasDeleted = this.listeners.delete(listener);
+        // Call onLastWatch if every listener has been removed.
+        if (hasDeleted && this.listeners.size === 0) {
+            this.onLastWatch();
+        }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * This is called when the number of listeners go from zero to one.
+     * Could be used to add external event listeners.
+     */
+    protected onFirstWatch(): void {}
+
+    /**
+     * This is called when the number of listeners go from one to zero.
+     * Could be used to remove external event listeners.
+     */
+    protected onLastWatch(): void {}
 }
 
 /**