diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 3796a8f9d74..905102de57b 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 Unreleased
 ----------
 
+- Include source tree scans in the traces produced by `--trace-file` (#7937,
+  @rgrinberg)
+
 - Cinaps: The promotion rules for cinaps would only offer one file at a time no
   matter how many promotions were available. Now we offer all the promotions at
   once (#7901, @rgrinberg)
diff --git a/bin/common.ml b/bin/common.ml
index 33c6f6c5ffb..8a050712564 100644
--- a/bin/common.ml
+++ b/bin/common.ml
@@ -1175,6 +1175,7 @@ let build (builder : Builder.t) ~default_root_is_cwd =
             ~extended_build_job_info:builder.stats_trace_extended
             (Out (open_out f))
         in
+        Dune_stats.set_global stats;
         at_exit (fun () -> Dune_stats.close stats);
         stats)
   in
diff --git a/src/dune_rules/source_tree.ml b/src/dune_rules/source_tree.ml
index 89fba2a8f9e..c2a0ae7ac7f 100644
--- a/src/dune_rules/source_tree.ml
+++ b/src/dune_rules/source_tree.ml
@@ -671,18 +671,47 @@ module Dir = struct
   module Make_map_reduce (M : Memo.S) (Outcome : Monoid) = struct
     open M.O
 
-    let rec map_reduce t ~traverse ~f =
-      let must_traverse = Sub_dirs.Status.Map.find traverse t.status in
-      match must_traverse with
-      | false -> M.return Outcome.empty
-      | true ->
-        let+ here = f t
-        and+ in_sub_dirs =
-          M.List.map (Filename.Map.values t.contents.sub_dirs) ~f:(fun s ->
-              let* t = M.of_memo (sub_dir_as_t s) in
-              map_reduce t ~traverse ~f)
-        in
-        List.fold_left in_sub_dirs ~init:here ~f:Outcome.combine
+    let map_reduce =
+      let rec map_reduce t ~traverse ~f =
+        let must_traverse = Sub_dirs.Status.Map.find traverse t.status in
+        match must_traverse with
+        | false -> M.return Outcome.empty
+        | true ->
+          let+ here = f t
+          and+ in_sub_dirs =
+            M.List.map (Filename.Map.values t.contents.sub_dirs) ~f:(fun s ->
+                let* t = M.of_memo (sub_dir_as_t s) in
+                map_reduce t ~traverse ~f)
+          in
+          List.fold_left in_sub_dirs ~init:here ~f:Outcome.combine
+      in
+      let impl =
+        lazy
+          (match Dune_stats.global () with
+          | None -> map_reduce
+          | Some stats ->
+            fun t ~traverse ~f ->
+              let start = Unix.gettimeofday () in
+              let+ res = map_reduce t ~traverse ~f in
+              let event =
+                let stop = Unix.gettimeofday () in
+                let module Event = Chrome_trace.Event in
+                let module Timestamp = Event.Timestamp in
+                let dur = Timestamp.of_float_seconds (stop -. start) in
+                let common =
+                  Event.common_fields ~name:"Source tree scan"
+                    ~ts:(Timestamp.of_float_seconds start)
+                    ()
+                in
+                let args =
+                  [ ("dir", `String (Path.Source.to_string t.path)) ]
+                in
+                Event.complete common ~args ~dur
+              in
+              Dune_stats.emit stats event;
+              res)
+      in
+      fun t ~traverse ~f -> (Lazy.force impl) t ~traverse ~f
   end
 
   let cram_tests (t : t) =
diff --git a/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.ml b/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.ml
index 5d95d33037a..dad8dcc567c 100644
--- a/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.ml
+++ b/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.ml
@@ -118,6 +118,15 @@ let close { print; close; _ } =
   print "]\n";
   close ()
 
+let global = ref None
+
+let set_global t =
+  if Option.is_some !global then
+    Code_error.raise "global stats have been set" [];
+  global := Some t
+
+let global () = !global
+
 let create ~extended_build_job_info dst =
   let print =
     match dst with
diff --git a/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.mli b/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.mli
index 4d16d7237c4..4bc8347aabd 100644
--- a/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.mli
+++ b/src/dune_stats/dune_stats.mli
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ type dst =
       ; flush : unit -> unit
       }
 
+val global : unit -> t option
+
+val set_global : t -> unit
+
 val create : extended_build_job_info:bool -> dst -> t
 
 val emit : t -> Chrome_trace.Event.t -> unit
diff --git a/test/blackbox-tests/test-cases/trace-file.t/run.t b/test/blackbox-tests/test-cases/trace-file.t/run.t
index a0d0a92e52e..c719a117b43 100644
--- a/test/blackbox-tests/test-cases/trace-file.t/run.t
+++ b/test/blackbox-tests/test-cases/trace-file.t/run.t
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 This captures the commands that are being run:
 
   $ <trace.json grep '"X"' | cut -c 2- | sed -E 's/:[0-9]+/:.../g'
+  {"args":{"dir":"."},"ph":"X","dur":...,"name":"Source tree scan","cat":"","ts":...,"pid":...,"tid":...}
   {"args":{"process_args":["-config"],"pid":...},"ph":"X","dur":...,"name":"ocamlc.opt","cat":"process","ts":...,"pid":...,"tid":...}
   {"args":{"process_args":["-modules","-impl","prog.ml"],"pid":...},"ph":"X","dur":...,"name":"ocamldep.opt","cat":"process","ts":...,"pid":...,"tid":...}
   {"args":{"process_args":["-w","@1..3@5..28@30..39@43@46..47@49..57@61..62-40","-strict-sequence","-strict-formats","-short-paths","-keep-locs","-g","-bin-annot","-I",".prog.eobjs/byte","-no-alias-deps","-opaque","-o",".prog.eobjs/byte/prog.cmo","-c","-impl","prog.ml"],"pid":...},"ph":"X","dur":...,"name":"ocamlc.opt","cat":"process","ts":...,"pid":...,"tid":...}