diff --git a/internal/route/route.go b/internal/route/route.go
index f9f8a8e0..df1d63fb 100644
--- a/internal/route/route.go
+++ b/internal/route/route.go
@@ -395,6 +395,8 @@ func (r *Route) start(parent task.Parent) gperr.Error {
 		if err := r.impl.Start(parent); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+	} else { // required by idlewatcher
+		r.task = parent.Subtask("excluded."+r.Name(), false)
 	}
 	return nil
 }