diff --git a/filebeat/supervisord.conf b/filebeat/supervisord.conf
index 78faf96e1..f0b2ab382 100644
--- a/filebeat/supervisord.conf
+++ b/filebeat/supervisord.conf
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ command=python3 /usr/local/bin/filebeat-watch-zeeklogs-uploads-folder.py
   --start-sleep 30
   --polling "%(ENV_FILEBEAT_WATCHER_POLLING)s"
   --closed-sec %(ENV_FILEBEAT_WATCHER_POLLING_ASSUME_CLOSED_SEC)s
-  --in "%(ENV_FILEBEAT_ZEEK_DIR)s"upload
+  --in "%(ENV_FILEBEAT_ZEEK_DIR)s"/upload
   --out "%(ENV_FILEBEAT_ZEEK_DIR)s"
   --uid %(ENV_PUID)s
   --gid %(ENV_PGID)s
diff --git a/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.py b/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..a69ee8792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.py
@@ -0,0 +1,261 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# Copyright (c) 2023 Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC.  All rights reserved.
+
+###################################################################################################
+# Monitor a directory for PCAP files for processing (by publishing their filenames to a ZMQ socket)
+#
+# Run the script with --help for options
+###################################################################################################
+
+import argparse
+import glob
+import logging
+import magic
+import os
+import pathlib
+import shutil
+import signal
+import sys
+import time
+
+import malcolm_utils
+from malcolm_utils import eprint, str2bool, remove_suffix
+import watch_common
+
+###################################################################################################
+scriptName = os.path.basename(__file__)
+scriptPath = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))
+origPath = os.getcwd()
+shuttingDown = [False]
+
+
+###################################################################################################
+# handle sigint/sigterm and set a global shutdown variable
+def shutdown_handler(signum, frame):
+    global shuttingDown
+    shuttingDown[0] = True
+
+
+###################################################################################################
+def file_processor(pathname, **kwargs):
+    uid = kwargs["uid"]
+    gid = kwargs["gid"]
+    pcapDir = kwargs["destination"]
+    zeekDir = kwargs["zeek"]
+    logger = kwargs["logger"]
+
+    logger.debug(f"{scriptName}:\t👓\t{pathname}")
+
+    if os.path.isfile(pathname):
+        time.sleep(0.1)
+        try:
+            os.chown(pathname, uid, gid)
+
+            # get the file magic mime type
+            fileMime = magic.from_file(pathname, mime=True)
+            fileType = magic.from_file(pathname)
+
+            if os.path.isdir(pcapDir) and (
+                (fileMime in ('application/vnd.tcpdump.pcap', 'application/x-pcapng')) or ('pcap-ng' in fileType)
+            ):
+                # a pcap file to be processed by dropping it into pcapDir
+                logger.debug(f"{scriptName}:\t🖅\t{pathname} ({fileMime}/{fileType}) to {pcapDir}")
+                shutil.move(pathname, pcapDir)
+
+            elif os.path.isdir(zeekDir) and (
+                fileMime
+                in [
+                    'application/gzip',
+                    'application/x-gzip',
+                    'application/x-7z-compressed',
+                    'application/x-bzip2',
+                    'application/x-cpio',
+                    'application/x-lzip',
+                    'application/x-lzma',
+                    'application/x-rar-compressed',
+                    'application/x-tar',
+                    'application/x-xz',
+                    'application/zip',
+                ]
+            ):
+                # looks like this is a compressed file, we're assuming it's a zeek log archive to be processed by filebeat
+                logger.debug(f"{scriptName}:\t🖅\t{pathname} ({fileMime}/{fileType}) to {zeekDir}")
+                shutil.move(pathname, zeekDir)
+
+            else:
+                # unhandled file type uploaded, delete it
+                logger.info(f"{scriptName}:\t🗑\t{pathname} ({fileMime}/{fileType})")
+                os.unlink(pathname)
+
+        except Exception as genericError:
+            logger.warning(f"{scriptName}:\texception: {genericError}")
+
+
+###################################################################################################
+# main
+def main():
+    global shuttingDown
+
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
+        description=scriptName,
+        add_help=False,
+        usage='{} <arguments>'.format(scriptName),
+    )
+    parser.add_argument('--verbose', '-v', action='count', default=1, help='Increase verbosity (e.g., -v, -vv, etc.)')
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-r',
+        '--recursive-directory',
+        dest='recursiveDir',
+        help="If specified, monitor all directories with this name underneath --directory",
+        metavar='<name>',
+        type=str,
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-p',
+        '--polling',
+        dest='polling',
+        help="Use polling (instead of inotify)",
+        metavar='true|false',
+        type=str2bool,
+        nargs='?',
+        const=True,
+        default=os.getenv('PCAP_PIPELINE_POLLING', False),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-c',
+        '--closed-sec',
+        dest='assumeClosedSec',
+        help="When polling, assume a file is closed after this many seconds of inactivity",
+        metavar='<seconds>',
+        type=int,
+        default=int(os.getenv('PCAP_PIPELINE_POLLING_ASSUME_CLOSED_SEC', str(watch_common.ASSUME_CLOSED_SEC_DEFAULT))),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-i',
+        '--in',
+        dest='srcDir',
+        help='Source directory to monitor',
+        metavar='<directory>',
+        type=str,
+        default=os.path.join(remove_suffix(os.getenv('PCAP_PATH', '/pcap'), '/'), 'upload'),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-o',
+        '--out',
+        dest='dstDir',
+        help='Destination directory',
+        metavar='<directory>',
+        type=str,
+        default=os.path.join(remove_suffix(os.getenv('PCAP_PATH', '/pcap'), '/'), 'processed'),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-z',
+        '--zeek',
+        dest='zeekDir',
+        help='Zeek upload directory',
+        metavar='<directory>',
+        type=str,
+        default=os.path.join(remove_suffix(os.getenv('ZEEK_PATH', '/zeek'), '/'), 'upload'),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-u',
+        '--uid',
+        dest='chownUid',
+        help='UID to chown files',
+        metavar='<integer>',
+        type=int,
+        default=int(os.getenv('PUID', os.getenv('DEFAULT_UID', '1000'))),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '-g',
+        '--gid',
+        dest='chownGid',
+        help='UID to chown files',
+        metavar='<integer>',
+        type=int,
+        default=int(os.getenv('PGID', os.getenv('DEFAULT_GID', '1000'))),
+        required=False,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--start-sleep',
+        dest='startSleepSec',
+        help="Sleep for this many seconds before starting",
+        metavar='<seconds>',
+        type=int,
+        default=0,
+        required=False,
+    )
+
+    try:
+        parser.error = parser.exit
+        args = parser.parse_args()
+    except SystemExit:
+        parser.print_help()
+        exit(2)
+
+    args.verbose = logging.ERROR - (10 * args.verbose) if args.verbose > 0 else 0
+    logging.basicConfig(
+        level=args.verbose, format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s', datefmt='%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'
+    )
+    logging.debug(os.path.join(scriptPath, scriptName))
+    logging.debug("Arguments: {}".format(sys.argv[1:]))
+    logging.debug("Arguments: {}".format(args))
+    if args.verbose > logging.DEBUG:
+        sys.tracebacklimit = 0
+
+    # handle sigint and sigterm for graceful shutdown
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, shutdown_handler)
+    signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, shutdown_handler)
+
+    # sleep for a bit if requested
+    sleepCount = 0
+    while (not shuttingDown[0]) and (sleepCount < args.startSleepSec):
+        time.sleep(1)
+        sleepCount += 1
+
+    args.dstDir = remove_suffix(args.dstDir, '/')
+    args.srcDir = remove_suffix(args.srcDir, '/')
+    args.zeekDir = remove_suffix(args.zeekDir, '/')
+
+    # if directory to monitor doesn't exist, create it now
+    if not os.path.isdir(args.srcDir):
+        if debug:
+            eprint(f'{scriptName}:\tcreating "{args.srcDir}" to monitor')
+        pathlib.Path(args.srcDir).mkdir(parents=False, exist_ok=True)
+
+    # if recursion was requested, get list of directories to monitor
+    watchDirs = []
+    while len(watchDirs) == 0:
+        if args.recursiveDir is None:
+            watchDirs = [args.srcDir]
+        else:
+            watchDirs = glob.glob(f'{args.srcDir}/**/{args.recursiveDir}', recursive=True)
+
+    watch_common.WatchAndProcessDirectory(
+        watchDirs,
+        args.polling,
+        file_processor,
+        {
+            "logger": logging,
+            "destination": args.dstDir,
+            "zeek": args.zeekDir,
+            "uid": args.chownUid,
+            "gid": args.chownGid,
+        },
+        args.assumeClosedSec,
+        shuttingDown,
+        logging,
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.sh b/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index a72d088d8..000000000
--- a/pcap-monitor/scripts/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# Copyright (c) 2023 Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC.  All rights reserved.
-
-PCAP_BASE_PATH=${PCAP_PATH:-"/pcap"}
-ZEEK_BASE_PATH=${ZEEK_PATH:-"/zeek"}
-
-PROCESS_DIR="$PCAP_BASE_PATH/processed"
-PCAP_UPLOAD_DIR="$PCAP_BASE_PATH/upload"
-ZEEK_UPLOAD_DIR="$ZEEK_BASE_PATH/upload"
-mkdir -p "$PCAP_UPLOAD_DIR"
-
-# as new pcaps are closed for writing in /pcap/upload, move them to /pcap/processed for processing
-inotifywait -m -e close_write --format '%w%f' "${PCAP_UPLOAD_DIR}" | while read NEWFILE
-do
-  FILEMAGIC=$(file -b "$NEWFILE")
-  FILEMIME=$(file -b --mime-type "$NEWFILE")
-  if [[ "$FILEMIME" == 'application/vnd.tcpdump.pcap' ]] || [[ "$FILEMIME" == 'application/x-pcapng' ]] || [[ "$FILEMAGIC" == *"pcap-ng"* ]]; then
-    # a pcap file to be processed by dropping it into $PROCESS_DIR
-    sleep 0.1 && chown ${PUID:-${DEFAULT_UID}}:${PGID:-${DEFAULT_GID}} "$NEWFILE" && (>&2 mv -v "$NEWFILE" "$PROCESS_DIR/")
-
-  elif [[ -d "$ZEEK_UPLOAD_DIR" ]] && ( echo "$FILEMIME" | grep --quiet -P "(application/gzip|application/x-gzip|application/x-7z-compressed|application/x-bzip2|application/x-cpio|application/x-lzip|application/x-lzma|application/x-rar-compressed|application/x-tar|application/x-xz|application/zip)" ); then
-    # looks like this is a compressed file, we're assuming it's a zeek log archive to be processed by filebeat
-    sleep 0.1 && chown ${PUID:-${DEFAULT_UID}}:${PGID:-${DEFAULT_GID}} "$NEWFILE" && (>&2 mv -v "$NEWFILE" "$ZEEK_UPLOAD_DIR/")
-
-  else
-    # unhandled file type uploaded, delete it
-    sleep 0.1 && (>&2 rm "$NEWFILE")
-    echo "Removed \"$NEWFILE\", unhandled file type \"$FILEMIME\""
-
-  fi
-done
diff --git a/pcap-monitor/supervisord.conf b/pcap-monitor/supervisord.conf
index a4ad0d9f8..50c232c33 100644
--- a/pcap-monitor/supervisord.conf
+++ b/pcap-monitor/supervisord.conf
@@ -18,7 +18,15 @@ supervisor.rpcinterface_factory=supervisor.rpcinterface:make_main_rpcinterface
 serverurl=unix:///tmp/supervisor.sock
 
 [program:watch-upload]
-command=/bin/bash -c "sleep 30 && /usr/local/bin/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.sh"
+command=python3 /usr/local/bin/watch-pcap-uploads-folder.py
+  --start-sleep 30
+  --polling "%(ENV_PCAP_PIPELINE_POLLING)s"
+  --closed-sec %(ENV_PCAP_PIPELINE_POLLING_ASSUME_CLOSED_SEC)s
+  --in "%(ENV_PCAP_PATH)s"/upload
+  --out "%(ENV_PCAP_PATH)s"/processed
+  --zeek "%(ENV_ZEEK_PATH)s"/upload
+  --uid %(ENV_PUID)s
+  --gid %(ENV_PGID)s
 startsecs=35
 startretries=1
 stopasgroup=true